Speaker 1: Why on Sky News. This is Sharry.
Speaker 2: Good Evening.
Speaker 3: It's my final show of the year tonight and I
Speaker 3: have major scoops. First exclusive vision from inside Melbourne's a
Speaker 3: Dust Synagogue showing the moment.
Speaker 2: It went up in flames.
Speaker 3: This is the first look at the arsonists while they
Speaker 3: were committing this terror attack. It's truly horrifying and it
Speaker 3: shows how those inside were mere seconds away from being
Speaker 3: engulfed in flames.
Speaker 2: That story.
Speaker 3: In a moment also tonight, Anthony Albanezi told prominent members
Speaker 3: of the Jewish community that the Arabs are doing it
Speaker 3: really tough at the moment. This was his instinctive remark
Speaker 3: at a time when our country is in the grips
Speaker 3: of an antisemitism crisis.
Speaker 2: That story coming up.
Speaker 3: Rupert Murdoch has today visited the Adust Synagogue to witness
Speaker 3: the aftermath of the terror attack, saying he deeply moved
Speaker 3: and there's pressure on John Persuto to stand down. Tonight,
Speaker 3: with MOI Redeeming being awarded three hundred thousand in damages,
Speaker 3: Persuno claimed there were no adverse findings against him, a
Speaker 3: statement that's blatantly untrue.
Speaker 2: Lawyer Justin Quill will be on live shortly.
Speaker 3: But first tonight, let's start with the truly horrifying moment
Speaker 3: the Adas Synagogue went up in flames. Police have obtained
Speaker 3: crucial new evidence that shows the alleged arsonists behind this
Speaker 3: terror attack. The exclusive pictures I'm about to show you,
Speaker 3: obtained by police, are captured from CCTV inside the temple.
Speaker 3: It is a truly horrifying moment when a synagogue is
Speaker 3: set alight and torched.
Speaker 2: Take a look. It's so terrifying, isn't it.
Speaker 3: And I want to show you those pictures again, but
Speaker 3: this time in slow motion. Just look how quickly that
Speaker 3: fire spreads. In a matter of seconds, the synagogue turns
Speaker 3: from a peaceful place of worship, a safe room for
Speaker 3: study and prayer, into a potentially deadly inferno, the flames
Speaker 3: raging inside with thick, acrid smoke. And now I can
Speaker 3: show you what happened inside the synagogue just moments before this.
Speaker 2: You can see a.
Speaker 3: Worshiper to the left of the screen peering inside the
Speaker 3: room where the arsonists are dowsing petrol. He sees what's
Speaker 3: going on, he starts to flee, Then he goes back
Speaker 3: and bangs on the door. It looks like he says
Speaker 3: something to the terrorists, but then runs for his life.
Speaker 3: As he flees the room, you can see the urgency
Speaker 3: and terror. And now we're more extraordinary and shocking footage,
Speaker 3: which is right now being examined by police. I can
Speaker 3: show you the actual attackers moving inside the synagogue moments
Speaker 3: before the inferno erupts. Look closely now to the left
Speaker 3: side of your screen, the circle in red through the door.
Speaker 3: You can see the arsonists running back and forth. It
Speaker 3: appears they're carrying a red jerry can as they pour
Speaker 3: petrol all over the synagogue. And let's take a closer
Speaker 3: look at that vision, because it's utterly extraordinary to see
Speaker 3: these arsonists behind this terror attack. This time, let's look
Speaker 3: in slow motion, and if you look closely, you can
Speaker 3: see there's a black covering or mask on one of
Speaker 3: their faces.
Speaker 2: Have a look. You can see that.
Speaker 3: Now that is key evidence for police who are tonight
Speaker 3: leading this terrorist investigation. Then, precisely thirty seven seconds later,
Speaker 3: the entire room goes up in flames. Thirty seven seconds
Speaker 3: between when the worshiper left the room and when it
Speaker 3: was on fire. That is thirty seven seconds between life
Speaker 3: and death.
Speaker 2: In the wake of this attack.
Speaker 3: Albanesi has claimed that he cares about antisemitism. He visited
Speaker 3: Sydney's Holocaust Museum yesterday and spoke about the need for action.
Speaker 3: But last week, before this terror attack, he made an
Speaker 3: insensitive remark. Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi told prominent members of
Speaker 3: the Jewish community that the Arabs are doing it really
Speaker 3: tough at the moment. He made the comments last week
Speaker 3: prior to the terror attack on the Adashed Synagogue in Melbourne,
Speaker 3: but after the extensive antisemitic vandalism in Wullara. His tone,
Speaker 3: deaf and insensitive comments are understood to have shocked the
Speaker 3: prominent Jewish leaders, who immediately responded by telling Albanzi that
Speaker 3: the Jewish community was doing it tough as well. Albanese's
Speaker 3: comments show he has failed to understand the gravity of
Speaker 3: the anti Semitism crisis that's erupted over the past fourteen months.
Speaker 2: I asked the.
Speaker 3: Prime Minister's office today if he recognized his remarks were insensitive,
Speaker 3: and I asked for a comment. The Prime Minister's office
Speaker 3: said they did not believe it was an accurate reflection
Speaker 3: of the conversation, but the comments were instantly shocking to
Speaker 3: the prominent Jewish leaders, and they remarked on them immediately
Speaker 3: to others present. But this was Albanesi's instinctive sentiment to
Speaker 3: talk about how tough the Arabic community he was feeling
Speaker 3: when our country is in the grips of an anti
Speaker 3: Semitism crisis. It's similar to his ministers who, even after
Speaker 3: the fire bombing, can't stop talking about Islamophobia.
Speaker 1: So be it any Semitism or Islamophobia.
Speaker 4: And Islamophobia is unacceptable.
Speaker 1: If James Patterson thinks he's now as Lamophobia in Australia
Speaker 1: his role.
Speaker 3: As we spoke about last night, Albanezi also was caught
Speaker 3: on tape saying he was going to make the Jewish
Speaker 3: community even more upset. It seems he was referring to
Speaker 3: another anti Israel vote at the United Nations which took
Speaker 3: place overnight. The UN vote demanded that Israel reverse its
Speaker 3: bound on UNRA despite its proven links to terrorism, shutou
Speaker 3: Home Affairs Minister James Patterson told me today that this
Speaker 3: was reckless and irresponsible.
Speaker 5: The truth is no Australian taxpayer dollars should be going
Speaker 5: to an organization that admits itself it employed terrorist and
Speaker 5: that is exactly what the Albanezi has done. The Albaneza
Speaker 5: government has done. This just continues the insults from the
Speaker 5: Albanza government to Israel and the Jewish community over the
Speaker 5: last week, which also included Pennywong's inflammatory and irresponsible speech
Speaker 5: on Tuesday night in which she compared Israel to Russia
Speaker 5: and China. And this is all the more reckless and
Speaker 5: irresponsible given we are now in the middle of an
Speaker 5: anti Jewish terror crisis in Australia.
Speaker 3: The UN vote also demanded an unconditional and immediate ceasefire. Well,
Speaker 3: there can't be an unconditional ceasefire. You can't have a
Speaker 3: ceasefire if her Muss is still in power or if
Speaker 3: the hostages haven't been brought home. Patterson says this would
Speaker 3: only see the return of the terror group her Muss,
Speaker 3: and that the Albanzi government is clearly putting their own
Speaker 3: political interest ahead of the national interest.
Speaker 5: We voted to support an immediate ceasefire without any caveats
Speaker 5: at all, and the effective that would be for her
Speaker 5: Mus to remain in charge in Gaza. It will allow
Speaker 5: a must to regroup and recontrol Garza again, where it
Speaker 5: would again subject to people of Gaza to misery and
Speaker 5: from where they could again launch strikes against the Israeli
Speaker 5: people and the Israeli government.
Speaker 3: Voting to effectively allow a terrorist group to remain in
Speaker 3: power is an insane proposition from a morally corrupt government,
Speaker 3: a government that pretends to care about anti Semitism, but
Speaker 3: at the same time continues its campaign of aggression against Israel,
Speaker 3: a campaign that has only emboldened the haters and contributed
Speaker 3: to the rise of due hatred in our beautiful country. Well,
Speaker 3: as I said, it's my final show of the year,
Speaker 3: and it is a big one. I've got an exclusive
Speaker 3: interview with United States Congressman Brad Weinstrap on his investigation
Speaker 3: into the origins of COVID.
Speaker 2: That's coming out later.
Speaker 3: Economist Judith Sloan will also join me live to slam
Speaker 3: government spending. Plus Justin Quill, a top lawyer, will break
Speaker 3: down the findings against John Pisuto after Moiray Deeming's win today.
Speaker 3: Jemma Tognini Gary Hargrave also on the program. But now
Speaker 3: let's bring in National Senator Matt Canavan and Perth Met
Speaker 3: Basil Zemplus. Welcome to you both, Matt and Basil. Look
Speaker 3: you just saw that shocking footage then it is quite
Speaker 3: scary to watch, and we timed it precisely. This is
Speaker 3: the footage that the police have obtained from inside the synagogue,
Speaker 3: thirty seven seconds Matt between the moment a worshiper was
Speaker 3: in that room and when it was engulfed in flames.
Speaker 6: Well, it can just be thankful, Shari that no one
Speaker 6: was hurt or injured from these shocking events in Australia.
Speaker 6: Has shocked the country, you know. I mean, in the
Speaker 6: space of a year, we've had a bishop stab giving
Speaker 6: during a sermon and now these attacks on the Jewish community.
Speaker 6: Very sad to see a country divided in this way,
Speaker 6: and I think it is an obligation all our leaders
Speaker 6: and political leaders to try and unite Australians and be
Speaker 6: with them at times of these kinds of troubles. It's
Speaker 6: good to see the promise to finally do that. It's
Speaker 6: been a bit related, but look, we've just got to
Speaker 6: stop trying to pit Australians against Australians. The vast majority
Speaker 6: of Australians do want to get along. There's obviously a
Speaker 6: small minority among us that are trying to cause us
Speaker 6: to divide ourselves to fight against each other. But what
Speaker 6: we've got to do is bring those perpetrators to justice,
Speaker 6: find who these people are, make them account for the
Speaker 6: full account of the law. And then otherwise we've got
Speaker 6: to get together as all Australians, all different faiths.
Speaker 1: We're very lucky to be in this country.
Speaker 6: And I think one of the things that makes is
Speaker 6: such a harmonious and prosperous country over time is that
Speaker 6: we've generally been able to leave a centuries long ethnic.
Speaker 1: Conflicts to other parts of the world.
Speaker 6: We're very lucky here in this country that we don't
Speaker 6: have generational inflict of any great note.
Speaker 1: And long may it stay that way.
Speaker 3: Well, it's not staying that way anymore. It hasn't stayed
Speaker 3: that way for the past fourteen months. But I agree
Speaker 3: it was up until that point largely safe and free
Speaker 3: of racism.
Speaker 2: Basil.
Speaker 3: I want to get your reaction, and let's play them
Speaker 3: again now those foot that footage from inside the synagogue, Basil,
Speaker 3: what was your reaction when you saw just how close
Speaker 3: that worshiper came to being engulfed in flames, and also
Speaker 3: that extraordinary footage of the arsonists going back and forth
Speaker 3: with the red jerry can and you can see, you know,
Speaker 3: the black covering over their face.
Speaker 7: Absolutely horrific, isn't it. And as Matt has just said,
Speaker 7: how lucky we all are that the clash of times,
Speaker 7: the lighting of those explosives and that worshiper leaving that
Speaker 7: place of worship didn't just coincide that tiny bit closer,
Speaker 7: because we know what would have happened. What we also
Speaker 7: know is this was a person and people intend on
Speaker 7: to show junction. It was a crime fueled by hate.
Speaker 7: It's unnecessary, it's not what we like in our country.
Speaker 7: We want it stamped out and we want the message
Speaker 7: about it being stamped out to be very clear and
Speaker 7: to be coming from the very top. And as Man
Speaker 7: has said quite correctly, the Prime Minister is in and
Speaker 7: on now, but it has taken some time and these
Speaker 7: messages need to be clear, they need to be concise,
Speaker 7: and they need to be immediate, that this sort of
Speaker 7: behavior will never be tolerated in our country.
Speaker 3: And you know, and we can keep looking at this footage,
Speaker 3: it is just utterly extraordinary. But while the Prime Minister
Speaker 3: was yesterday responding to this terror attack and the rise
Speaker 3: in anti Semitism, I reported on the show last night
Speaker 3: that an Australian Auschwitz survivor turning one hundred had wanted
Speaker 3: her whole family to join her for the celebrations, but
Speaker 3: that Tony Burk's department had introduced a hostile What was
Speaker 3: sending Israeli is this hostile questionnaire where they were asked
Speaker 3: if they'd committed war crimes and to detail their military service,
Speaker 3: which in Israeli is compulsory. Now, last night, two of
Speaker 3: the Burger family had not been able to enter the country.
Speaker 3: The twenty one year old great granddaughter flew back home
Speaker 3: after her week's leave was up and the visa still
Speaker 3: not through. She might never get to see her one
Speaker 3: hundred year old grandmother Holocaust survivor again. But now in
Speaker 3: good news, thanks to our coverage on the show last night,
Speaker 3: the government is now allowing the relative who's been stranded
Speaker 3: in Thailand for two weeks to come to Australia. Matt,
Speaker 3: this is pretty outrageous though, to ask family members of
Speaker 3: Holocaust survivors if they've committed war crimes.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: Look, I don't know a lot about this case apart
Speaker 6: from what's being reported. I have to deal with many
Speaker 6: of these types of cases that come to me from
Speaker 6: time to time. Normally you get a very sensible response
Speaker 6: when they're raised, and congratulations for you to helping out
Speaker 6: this this family. In this instance, there does seem to
Speaker 6: be something a little bit strange about these questions. Obviously,
Speaker 6: I support a strong border protection regime, and I support
Speaker 6: our authorities asking appropriate questions about who wants to come
Speaker 6: to this country and make sure it's safe for all
Speaker 6: of us for them to enter here. No one that's
Speaker 6: not Australian has a right to enter our country. They'n
Speaker 6: have a default right to do that. And always mention
Speaker 6: that to people who want special treatment. But yeah, there's
Speaker 6: saying something strange about these questions, if that's true. So
Speaker 6: some questions I think need to be answered about exactly
Speaker 6: what the processes are in place for members.
Speaker 1: Of the defense force from Israel.
Speaker 6: Maybe there is need for some of questions when there
Speaker 6: are members of defense forces from other countries coming to
Speaker 6: our country.
Speaker 1: But it seems a little strange.
Speaker 3: It's not just strange, this is outright aggression from the
Speaker 3: Albanezy government. Military services compulsory for all young people in Israel.
Speaker 3: There's no other way for Israel to defend its nation
Speaker 3: when it comes under existential threat from terrorists on seven fronts.
Speaker 3: You know, I reported last night Israelis who've gone back
Speaker 3: and forth from Australia for work on now having to
Speaker 3: deal with these hostile questions. We know Tony Burke his
Speaker 3: entire career has been a pro Palestinian politician, like the
Speaker 3: Prime minister.
Speaker 2: I mean, this is a.
Speaker 3: Good outcome for this Auschwitz survivor's great grandson thanks to
Speaker 3: our reporting, But what about everyone else? And we can't
Speaker 3: raise every case on this show, Basil.
Speaker 7: No, that's a very good point, and again, yes, well
Speaker 7: done to you and your team for highlighting this. I
Speaker 7: think what we want in these situations is consistency. We
Speaker 7: want the same rules and interrogation for everybody. Nobody should
Speaker 7: be interrogated more than anybody else, but nobody should be
Speaker 7: interrogated less than anybody else. And if you serve any
Speaker 7: armed forces from another nation anywhere in the world, it
Speaker 7: is fair enough that some questions will be asked. That
Speaker 7: information is important to say is.
Speaker 3: Nonsense when Australian veterans. When Australian veterans go to America,
Speaker 3: we do not expect to be asked if.
Speaker 2: They've committed war crimes. That is just rubbish.
Speaker 6: But arry ques to decide the rules in this country.
Speaker 6: I mean, it's our country.
Speaker 1: It's not America. It's our country. If I don't know
Speaker 1: enough about it, we had.
Speaker 2: Veterans from America.
Speaker 3: We're not telling them questions about whether they've committed.
Speaker 1: Very strict protection rules, and I support them.
Speaker 2: This isn't about border protection and this that's.
Speaker 3: A business a double standard as well, because the Apanezy
Speaker 3: government rushed in nearly three thousand visas for Palestinians, no
Speaker 3: security checks at all, some granted in as little as
Speaker 3: an hour, and yet innocent, hard working Israelis, some who
Speaker 3: are the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors, others who've been coming
Speaker 3: back and forth through this country for for years and
Speaker 3: years are now being subject to this interrogation. It's a
Speaker 3: clear double standard that shouldn't apply when you've got Gaza,
Speaker 3: terrorist controlled war zone and you've got Israel, a peaceful,
Speaker 3: liberal democracy. It's an utter outrage, and I don't know
Speaker 3: how either of you can sit there and try and
Speaker 3: defend it.
Speaker 1: All I'm saying.
Speaker 6: All I'm saying is that we get to decide who
Speaker 6: comes here. It's our rules.
Speaker 1: That you do.
Speaker 6: If you're not in Australian you don't have a right to
Speaker 6: come to this country. I do agree with you that
Speaker 6: there is something strange there about asking about particular war
Speaker 6: crimes and what have you. That's I think what needs
Speaker 6: to get to the bottom of this case. And they
Speaker 6: may very well be a double standard there, but I
Speaker 6: very much support, as I say, anybody who comes to
Speaker 6: me wanting some kind of special access.
Speaker 2: This isn't about this isn't about a very strict.
Speaker 1: We have a strict, very strict visa required.
Speaker 3: This isn't about that. This is a question have you
Speaker 3: committed war crimes? Have you committed genocide? I read out
Speaker 3: the questions on there last night. No one else is
Speaker 3: being asked these questions except for Jewish citizens.
Speaker 2: This is utterly disgusting.
Speaker 3: And I have to say to you all the reaction
Speaker 3: I got from everyone today because this story has gone international,
Speaker 3: has been outrage at what's happening. What's happened to the
Speaker 3: Australian government that it's asking these questions. You know, the
Speaker 3: reaction hasn't been what you two have expressed tonight.
Speaker 2: But let's move on to other topics.
Speaker 7: And my Jack, I just say one more thing, though,
Speaker 7: I just say one more thing, And that's why consistency
Speaker 7: is important.
Speaker 1: And that's that's my point of view.
Speaker 7: If you're going to ask anybody who comes in one
Speaker 7: set of questions, you've got to ask everybody who comes
Speaker 7: in one set of questions. And we all applauded John
Speaker 7: Howard when he said, we decide who comes into this
Speaker 7: country and the circumstances in which they enter. We want
Speaker 7: to stay consistent and be consistent, and then there are
Speaker 7: no gray areas.
Speaker 1: That's the best way forward.
Speaker 3: And what we've seen here is a hostile policy towards
Speaker 3: Jews from Israel and rushing in visas for Garzans from
Speaker 3: a terrorist controlled war zone, where we've reported and shown
Speaker 3: new evidence on this program and in other media outlets
Speaker 3: that some have a muscin for these.
Speaker 7: So I think we're a green sharry. We're saying it
Speaker 7: needs to be consistent, that's what we're saying.
Speaker 3: Well, not sure we're agreeing. I don't think it needs
Speaker 3: to be consistent. I think you need strict and strong
Speaker 3: interrogation from people coming from a terrorist controlled war zone,
Speaker 3: and I don't think you need that from a liberal democracy.
Speaker 3: Jews are peaceful people. But let's move on to our
Speaker 3: unemployment rate. Australia's unemployment rate has fallen to three point
Speaker 3: nine percent in November, the lowest level since March.
Speaker 2: Matt.
Speaker 3: We've seen some economists warn that the low figure might
Speaker 3: impact the RBA's decision to cut interest rates. What impact
Speaker 3: do you think this could have on rates?
Speaker 6: Well, look, it's probably going to cause the Reserve Bank
Speaker 6: to at least pause before taking any further action.
Speaker 1: And while notionally a low unemployment.
Speaker 6: Rates good news for people, the reality is that doesn't
Speaker 6: really directly impact most people in this country. And deployment
Speaker 6: rate we're seeing is really a consequence of this government's
Speaker 6: policy of overheating the economy bringing in a lot more migrants,
Speaker 6: and really we can sustain right now. They might have
Speaker 6: those strict border controls on people coming here for birthday celebrations,
Speaker 6: but they're certainly not being strict for those coming here
Speaker 6: for longer periods of time and putting pressure on our
Speaker 6: housing and labor markets, and so that is overheating the
Speaker 6: economy and causing our interest rates to be higher than
Speaker 6: they otherwise need to be. If the government were to
Speaker 6: take some of that heat out of the market, control
Speaker 6: our border a little bit better, control our spending, control
Speaker 6: the spending of your money a bit better.
Speaker 1: Then maybe our employment.
Speaker 6: Market wouldn't be so hot, but their interest rates would
Speaker 6: come down. And I think that's what most restraints would
Speaker 6: like to see right now, and nothing the government is
Speaker 6: doing right now is helping generate that outcome. If we
Speaker 6: do see interest rates fall next year, it will be
Speaker 6: in spite of the Federal government's high spending, high immigration policies,
Speaker 6: because of anything they've done in particular.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and look, according to at least what the IBA said,
Speaker 3: you know, there are no immediate forecasts that rates are
Speaker 3: going to come down. And as we go into Christmas now,
Speaker 3: the cost of living crisis is such a major concern
Speaker 3: for families struggling to buy Christmas presents for their kids.
Speaker 7: Unemployment rates aren't really going to affect people's decision making,
Speaker 7: are they, And as we get towards March or April
Speaker 7: or May whenever that election is, having just come through,
Speaker 7: what will be a tough Christmas period for many families
Speaker 7: around Australia. In the end, people tend to simplify it
Speaker 7: and they'll walk into the ballot boxes and they'll ask
Speaker 7: themselves the question am I better off under labor after
Speaker 7: the last three years? That's largely what it will come
Speaker 7: down to. And I think there'll be a great vast
Speaker 7: number of Australians for whom that answer will be No,
Speaker 7: I'm not better off now than I was three years ago.
Speaker 7: And as we know, interest rates they started to go
Speaker 7: up under Morrison, they kept going up under alban easy,
Speaker 7: and that's what it may well boil down to now
Speaker 7: when we go to the polls.
Speaker 3: Indeed, all right, Matt Canavan, Basil Zemplus, thank you both
Speaker 3: very much for your time. Now let's turn to Labour's
Speaker 3: latest reelection bid to win over voters, in particular parents.
Speaker 3: Albanese is clearly hoping that childcare, free childcare will get.
Speaker 2: Him over the line at the next election.
Speaker 3: He's pledged to spend a billion dollars on one hundred
Speaker 3: and sixty new childcare centers and an estimated four hundred
Speaker 3: and thirty million dollars on subsidies. Will Economist Judith Sloan
Speaker 3: joins me, now, great to see you again. You write
Speaker 3: an excellent piece on this exaction point.
Speaker 2: Do you think this.
Speaker 3: Is a policy that will help productivity as we've heard
Speaker 3: the government argue or do you think this is purely
Speaker 3: chasing votes?
Speaker 8: I think absolutely not. So one of the tranches of
Speaker 8: the changes is to eliminate what's called the activity test.
Speaker 8: Now at the moment, if parents want to qualify for
Speaker 8: childcare subsidies, they have to be in work, looking for work,
Speaker 8: or in educational training or volunteering, right, so that is
Speaker 8: the activity test. So the proposal is actually to ditch
Speaker 8: the activity tests so people won't have to do any
Speaker 8: of those things and yet their children will qualify for
Speaker 8: the subsidies. Now that has the absolute reverse effect on productivity.
Speaker 8: It's bad for the economy. And here's one of the
Speaker 8: problems that let's say there's only one spot and one
Speaker 8: of the parents doesn't meet the activity tests and the
Speaker 8: other does. If the spot is given to the parents
Speaker 8: that don't meet the activity test, that is definitely a
Speaker 8: negative for the economy.
Speaker 3: We've seen comments from the RBA Deputy governor where he's
Speaker 3: warned if Trump follows through with his trade sanctions against
Speaker 3: China that we could be impacted in Australia because of
Speaker 3: our exposure to China. What do you think about this?
Speaker 3: Does this mean that we are too reliant on China
Speaker 3: for trade. Even though we keep hearing politicians say that
Speaker 3: we need to diversify.
Speaker 2: Has that not happened fast enough.
Speaker 8: Well, look, it's an interesting point, and you know, I
Speaker 8: think I was a very sort of traditional economist when
Speaker 8: I was thinking about this, but I'm now of the
Speaker 8: view that Trump and tariffs is quite a complicated story.
Speaker 8: So if you think about the trade between Australia and America,
Speaker 8: that's quite small, right, and in fact we run a deficit.
Speaker 8: So Trump's very concerned about countries with whom America runs
Speaker 8: a deficit, but we actually America runs a surplus with US.
Speaker 8: We send zam agricultural products meet We send quite a
Speaker 8: lot of what we call mincemeat to America for hamburgers
Speaker 8: and the like. But it's quite a small thing. So
Speaker 8: the effect of any big tariff changes would be via China.
Speaker 8: So China is our largest trading partner by a very
Speaker 8: long way. So if they impose high tariffs on China,
Speaker 8: that could easily affect the demand, particularly for the inputs
Speaker 8: for the for example, the coal and the iron ore
Speaker 8: that we supply to China. So that is a sort
Speaker 8: of indirect effect, but could be very substantial. I've always
Speaker 8: been interested because the Albanese government, I think, feels as
Speaker 8: though they're proud of re establishing good relationship they China
Speaker 8: because you know, they had imposed Yeah, but they had
Speaker 8: imposed and tariffs on our bali and wine and with
Speaker 8: it lobsters or something, Whereas I thought that was actually
Speaker 8: a good chance for us to try and diversify. But
Speaker 8: they're kind of giving themselves the big tear for re
Speaker 8: establishing those trade channels, whereas, in fact, I think it
Speaker 8: would have been better and I think up to a
Speaker 8: point it happened in Bali that we were actually able
Speaker 8: to establish alternative markets. I mean, it's just logical to
Speaker 8: have a diversified base of countries to which you're export
Speaker 8: because that's much more protective than relying on one country.
Speaker 8: And it's really we are. China is our biggest training
Speaker 8: partner by a very long way.
Speaker 3: It is, indeed, And look, I think it's one thing,
Speaker 3: it's a good thing that those tariffs have been removed,
Speaker 3: but to just go back into that cozy relationship where
Speaker 3: we would once again be subject to their whims if
Speaker 3: they don't like something Australia says, just when we stand
Speaker 3: up and defend our sovereignty.
Speaker 2: It's a really dangerous place to be.
Speaker 3: Judah Sloan always love your commentary and of course your
Speaker 3: columns in The Australian.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 3: Well. Victorian Liberal leader John Persudo is tonight hanging on
Speaker 3: to his leadership by a threat after sensationally losing the
Speaker 3: defamation case that Liberal Moira Deeming brought on former Liberal
Speaker 3: MP Mora Deeming.
Speaker 2: This is a massive win for Deeming.
Speaker 3: She took Pursuito to court over allegations that he implied
Speaker 3: she was a neo Nazi sympathizer after she attended that
Speaker 3: women's rally last year where she was just defending women's
Speaker 3: rights and it was gate crashed by neo Nazis.
Speaker 2: Pursuito has now.
Speaker 3: Been ordered to pay her three hundred thousand dollars in
Speaker 3: damages and he's now vowing to stay on despite the
Speaker 3: fact that there were adverse findings made against him in
Speaker 3: the judgment and it's clear to many that he has
Speaker 3: to go. Let's bring in now partner at major law
Speaker 3: firm Thompson Gear justin quil justin great to see you now.
Speaker 3: Tell us what you thought were the key comments from
Speaker 3: the judge about why Pursuito lost this case.
Speaker 9: Ultimately, his honor didn't really believe that the facts that
Speaker 9: mister Pursudo said underpinned his opinion and his government discussion
Speaker 9: and his public interest offenses. That he just didn't accept
Speaker 9: that those facts were accurate or reasonable. So I really
Speaker 9: had to do with things like whether or not these
Speaker 9: neo Nazis attended the rally. You know, what was the
Speaker 9: definition of the Rallian. Was their presence nearby enough to
Speaker 9: say they attended the Rallian? Wasn't enough to say that
Speaker 9: she organized the rally? So there were the facts like
Speaker 9: these that he's on. It just said mister Pursudo really
Speaker 9: got wrong. And once the if you're like the substratum
Speaker 9: or the basis for the opinion, etc. Was wrong, that
Speaker 9: the facts were wrong underpinning that opinion, then you will
Speaker 9: is that defense.
Speaker 10: So that was really the key.
Speaker 9: It's a long judgment, two or three undred pages, so
Speaker 9: it's hard to cut, you know, condense it into a
Speaker 9: sentence or two. But that's probably about as summarized as.
Speaker 10: You can get.
Speaker 3: Look, this was also quite a group in case because
Speaker 3: there were two high profile barristers Sucra.
Speaker 2: Sound Through and Matt Collins.
Speaker 3: They were taking each other on over this case, you
Speaker 3: know one Chris sound Through of course was representing Murray
Speaker 3: Deeming and Matt Collins representing John Persuto.
Speaker 2: So this was closely watched.
Speaker 3: John Persuto has been ordered to pay three hundred k damages,
Speaker 3: but it could end up being a lot more than that.
Speaker 9: Yeah, well, no doubt in terms of the barristers going
Speaker 9: at it. This was definitely a heavyweight about, no question
Speaker 9: about that. Sircras Santos well known to People's got quite
Speaker 9: a high profile. She quite happy to take that profile
Speaker 9: and quite happy to chase that profile. And as she's
Speaker 9: well known, and she's certainly a good barrister, very very
Speaker 9: well regarded barrister. She had a few good wins. I
Speaker 9: suspect this might be her biggest and best win. So
Speaker 9: you had her on one side of the fence, but
Speaker 9: a lesser known but I think probably more highly regarded
Speaker 9: barrister on the other side. As doctor Matt Collins.
Speaker 3: Come, I'm justin you're getting what are you saying here?
Speaker 3: Taking sides about who's a better barrister?
Speaker 9: Absolutely, but one thing they both charged very well, Charry
Speaker 9: and say.
Speaker 3: Matt Collins is the better barrister when he just lost
Speaker 3: this case. I don't want to get into legal wars,
Speaker 3: but he.
Speaker 9: Just it's only one case. You've got to judge barristers
Speaker 9: by more than one case. But look probably two me
Speaker 9: and bim me and bucksworth of cost in this and so.
Speaker 10: He's going to be pursued.
Speaker 9: It could be up for about one point seven million,
Speaker 9: would be my guess, plus the three hundred damages. Talking
Speaker 9: about two million dollars in costs and damages, it's going
Speaker 9: to be a very hefty.
Speaker 1: Deal for him.
Speaker 3: I should also just mention, just to disclose all conflicts
Speaker 3: here that you were representing your phone was representing Channel
Speaker 3: ten when Sukra suand Thre was representing Lisa Wilkinson, and
Speaker 3: there was a bit of a bit of a battle
Speaker 3: going on there over various issues, including costs of the
Speaker 3: Bruce Loman defamation case. So all sorts of angles here,
Speaker 3: justin quill, appreciate your time, all right.
Speaker 2: The last thing I need is to.
Speaker 3: Get myself in the middle of a war between barristers.
Speaker 3: One thing I don't need all right, still to come
Speaker 3: my interview with United States Representative brad Wenstrap after his
Speaker 3: committee found that COVID did in fact leak from a
Speaker 3: Chinese lab. But plus the Albanese government goes to war
Speaker 3: with Mark Zuckerberg forcing social media companies to pay.
Speaker 2: For out journalism.
Speaker 3: That's about time I'll discuss that with my panel Jemma
Speaker 3: Tognini and Gary Hargrave a little later.
Speaker 2: Welcome back.
Speaker 10: Well.
Speaker 3: After a two year investigation, the United States House Select
Speaker 3: Committee on COVID nineteen has released a wide, raging final
Speaker 3: report into the origins of the virus, which surprise surprise,
Speaker 3: concluded that COVID most likely leaked from a lab in
Speaker 3: Wuhan during the pandemic. The possibility of a lab leak,
Speaker 3: as you know, was slammed as a conspiracy, denounced by
Speaker 3: the left and even censored by big tech, and my
Speaker 3: reporting was the target of the likes of the ABC
Speaker 3: and others, even though the mounting evidence as we investigated
Speaker 3: was clear. Well, there needs to be more accountability for
Speaker 3: the likes of Anthony Fauci. It's a point the United
Speaker 3: States Representative Brad Weinstrup agreed with when I spoke with
Speaker 3: him earlier. Brad Weinstrup, thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 3: The COVID Select Committee confirmed that the most likely origin
Speaker 3: of the pandemic was a lab leak from gainer function research.
Speaker 3: What was the st youngest evidence you found pointing to
Speaker 3: this outcome, Well, it was more than.
Speaker 10: Just one thing.
Speaker 11: It was really a long list of forensics that would
Speaker 11: point towards lab lake.
Speaker 10: Let's just start with one. We never found an animal.
Speaker 11: In nature and the one article that was written about
Speaker 11: it coming from nature where was written by people that
Speaker 11: under in their private emails they were saying this thing
Speaker 11: looks engineered. Yet because they were involved with gain and
Speaker 11: function research, I believe that's why they wanted to steer
Speaker 11: towards a nature situation or try to claim that it
Speaker 11: came from nature. All the time that they were talking
Speaker 11: amongst themselves, they were saying things like, our focus is
Speaker 11: to disprove.
Speaker 10: The lab lak theory. But look, the research that was.
Speaker 11: Being done by EcoHealth alliance with US government funding was
Speaker 11: gain of function research where they wanted to use back
Speaker 11: backbones along with what's called receptor binding domain from other
Speaker 11: animals such as a pangolin, and that out if you're
Speaker 11: in cleavage site, which is exactly what you could do
Speaker 11: to try and create COVID nineteen and reverse engineer in
Speaker 11: the lab. But you look at all the other things
Speaker 11: that took place in China. For example, they destroyed the sequences.
Speaker 11: They did not want any of that information to get out.
Speaker 11: They didn't let scientists come in. They said that everything
Speaker 11: was under control, but it was, and they had people
Speaker 11: get sick in twenty nineteen that worked in the labs
Speaker 11: with symptoms consistent with COVID nineteen. They changed their ventilation
Speaker 11: system and they move their military in. Look, let me
Speaker 11: take it a step further. They have talked about a
Speaker 11: coronavirus bioweapons program for some time. Our own State department
Speaker 11: talked about it in two thousand and five.
Speaker 10: In twenty fifteen they put out a book.
Speaker 11: Talking about coronaviruses as a bioweapon. There are so many
Speaker 11: indicators around Wuhan and associated.
Speaker 10: With very dangerous research.
Speaker 11: The people that seemed to say they wanted it, wanted
Speaker 11: to say that it came from nature, were very people
Speaker 11: that for a day eight or two, we're advocating for
Speaker 11: this type of research and even though they knew it
Speaker 11: was risky. In twenty twelve, doctor Anthony Fauci was asked
Speaker 11: about this, and I believe it was in printed and
Speaker 11: Weekend Australia where they were asked. They asked him, aren't
Speaker 11: you concerned about this getting out of a lab in
Speaker 11: creating a pandemic and his response was he felt that
Speaker 11: the benefits outwigh the risk. There's just too many forensics
Speaker 11: that lead to this, and we have five hundred and
Speaker 11: twenty pages of documentation of interviews, of transcribed interviews, subpoena documents.
Speaker 11: We looked at a lot of things and we definitely
Speaker 11: did a thorough job, especially in the last couple of years,
Speaker 11: but really we've been investigating this for a good five years.
Speaker 3: Brad, do you expect there might be criminal referrals now
Speaker 3: and if so, for who?
Speaker 12: Well, some of the criminal referrals were made because people
Speaker 12: were saying things under oath in front of Congress that
Speaker 12: did not prove to be true, and once we.
Speaker 10: Got further evidence, that's some of it.
Speaker 11: But I think there's definitely should be some outcry amongst
Speaker 11: the public and from the scientific community for.
Speaker 10: People that were misleading.
Speaker 11: We're squelching scientific information that we're trying to fight against,
Speaker 11: an open debate of where this virus may have come from,
Speaker 11: and it seems that the people that were doing that
Speaker 11: had a motive because they had personal interest in gain
Speaker 11: and function research. And I don't think we even need
Speaker 11: to do gain to function research. I think through artificial
Speaker 11: intelligence we can do a lot of predicting of what
Speaker 11: might evolve in nature rather than just creating pathogens in
Speaker 11: the lab.
Speaker 3: There's still a significant amount of intelligence relating to this
Speaker 3: topic that hasn't been declassified. Do you expect there'll be
Speaker 3: an effort, similar to the Twitter files to make some
Speaker 3: of this public?
Speaker 10: You know absolutely.
Speaker 11: I sit on the Intelligence Committee, and that's really where
Speaker 11: my work began before.
Speaker 10: Where we have the Select Subcommittee on the pandemic.
Speaker 11: John Radcliffe was Director of National Intelligence throughout a lot
Speaker 11: of the pandemic.
Speaker 10: He and I talked regularly.
Speaker 11: I will tell you that the report that we put
Speaker 11: out is a unclassified version, and yes there are things
Speaker 11: further that are classified right now, and a lot of
Speaker 11: it I don't think needs to be classified, and we
Speaker 11: should be able to get it out for the world
Speaker 11: to know, in the world to see, and especially the
Speaker 11: American public.
Speaker 3: But what about the idea of some sort of Twitter
Speaker 3: files project. Do you think we should have something like
Speaker 3: that with the intelligence agencies? Given there is so much
Speaker 3: more evidence relating to the origin of COVID nineteen, and
Speaker 3: we know there was censorship, we know there was a
Speaker 3: cover up. So do you think an effort like this
Speaker 3: needs to happen now?
Speaker 11: I think from the Intelligence Committee right now in the
Speaker 11: House of Representatives, that is still happening.
Speaker 10: So we're not dropping it. The Select Subcommittee is finished,
Speaker 10: and again.
Speaker 11: That's unclassify, but on the classified side, we're continuing to
Speaker 11: work and there are some investigations that we're still in
Speaker 11: the process of.
Speaker 3: Just finally under a Trump administration. Do you think there'll
Speaker 3: be some accountability for Anthony Fauci.
Speaker 11: I think there'll definitely be some revelations of the things
Speaker 11: that happen.
Speaker 10: I hope there is. I mean, there has to be accountability,
Speaker 10: you know, or at least acknowledgment.
Speaker 11: I mean, let me just give you a simple example
Speaker 11: of something that doctor Fauci said during the pandemic.
Speaker 10: He said, if you get the vaccine, it's a dead
Speaker 10: end for the virus. Those are his words.
Speaker 11: That was not true, That was deceptive to the American people.
Speaker 11: We knew from the trials on these vaccines that you
Speaker 11: could still get COVID. Most people didn't get as sick,
Speaker 11: but people were still.
Speaker 10: Getting it and dying.
Speaker 11: And so those are the types of irresponsible statements that
Speaker 11: were being made from public health officials. And you know what,
Speaker 11: I know that when the United States is saying one thing,
Speaker 11: the rest of the world is listening to. What there
Speaker 11: be is what is being said. We have also in
Speaker 11: our report a construct for what it should look like
Speaker 11: going forward. We can't rely on the WHL, we can't
Speaker 11: rely on China. We have to have capabilities ourselves. We
Speaker 11: have to be able to have surveillance around the world
Speaker 11: and put that to good use. And we have to
Speaker 11: be able to we through this in a way that
Speaker 11: the American people can trust it.
Speaker 10: We have to get it out of the realm of politics.
Speaker 11: And I've said from the very beginning of the pandemic
Speaker 11: that in America, the Americans wanted to be hearing from
Speaker 11: doctors that were treating COVID patients, not the politician and
Speaker 11: not the person in the lab. How about the person
Speaker 11: that could walk out and say, here's what we saw today.
Speaker 11: These people are dying, they have these comorbidities. Here's who's
Speaker 11: not dying. Here's what seems to be working. As far
Speaker 11: as treatment. Here's what doesn't work that would have gone
Speaker 11: so much better from the realm of public health and
Speaker 11: for that matter, of global health. And there has to
Speaker 11: be a change, and we've made those recommendations and changes
Speaker 11: at the end.
Speaker 5: Of our report.
Speaker 3: Brad, I really appreciate your time today and I have
Speaker 3: to thank you enormously for your focus and attention to
Speaker 3: this very imported issue.
Speaker 11: Thank you for your diligence on this issue, because I
Speaker 11: know that you sometimes.
Speaker 10: Were publicly being harassed for you just seeking the truth.
Speaker 3: All right, coming up after the break, Rupert Murdoch pays
Speaker 3: a visit to the Adas Synagogue. I'll show you photographs
Speaker 3: of that emotional tour, and will Peter Dutton's plan to
Speaker 3: unify Australia under one flag apply to the harbor Bridge.
Speaker 3: Gemma Tognini and Gary Hargrave will join me after this
Speaker 3: quick break. All right, let's bring in now tonight's panel
Speaker 3: GT Communications founder Gemma Tognini and Skynes's contributor Gary Hargrave.
Speaker 2: Great to see you both. Well, let's talk about Peter.
Speaker 3: Dutton's proposal to just have one flag. He copped a
Speaker 3: bit of a grilling on Sunrise from it.
Speaker 2: This morning.
Speaker 4: Have a look, you're going to get rid of it
Speaker 4: on the Harbor Bridge too. According to Jacenter Prance, is
Speaker 4: that what you can do.
Speaker 13: I want practical reconciliation. I want kids in Alice Springs
Speaker 13: to live in a safe environment, to have a good
Speaker 13: health system and.
Speaker 5: Going on and go to school.
Speaker 4: I'm going to take it up the city.
Speaker 13: We'll work with the state governments and obviously the state
Speaker 13: government has made a decision to put the flag up there.
Speaker 4: Would you like to see the indigenous flag remove from
Speaker 4: the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Speaker 13: I think it's an issue for the state government.
Speaker 3: Gemma Dunnan has been probbing backlash over this move.
Speaker 2: What do you think.
Speaker 14: I think one thing you can say about Peter Dutton
Speaker 14: is that he's a person of conviction and when this
Speaker 14: story came out, I was like, well that's a nod
Speaker 14: thing to talk about at this time. But look, I
Speaker 14: take his point about tokenism. So the same people who
Speaker 14: are jumping up and down about this flag being on
Speaker 14: the bridge or not being on the bridge, or being
Speaker 14: behind him as a Prime minister or not being when
Speaker 14: are they talking about DV in the Northern Territory.
Speaker 2: When are they talking.
Speaker 14: About systemic disadvantage in the Indigenous community.
Speaker 2: Oh that's right.
Speaker 14: The Progressive Left and the Labor Party don't do that
Speaker 14: anymore since they lost. They was because the Prime Minister
Speaker 14: set the time when he said not my loss, not
Speaker 14: my problem and moved on. So we can walk into
Speaker 14: gum except we can't. And I think the focus is
Speaker 14: on the wrong things. So for me it's a non event.
Speaker 14: I couldn't care less personally. But I also think he
Speaker 14: makes some really really valid points.
Speaker 2: Gary, what do you reckon?
Speaker 15: Well, look, if he ever does a bridge climb, I
Speaker 15: hope they take it down because he doesn't want to
Speaker 15: be photographed with it behind him. But look, Jem's right.
Speaker 1: In the end.
Speaker 15: The whole idea is the Australian National flag represents everybody.
Speaker 15: It doesn't matter. Your religion doesn't matter, but your race
Speaker 15: doesn't matter, whether you've been here for eight generations or
Speaker 15: eight eight thousand years. I mean seriously, that is the
Speaker 15: flag under which tens of millions of people have subscribed
Speaker 15: to the business of Australia by becoming citizens. And January
Speaker 15: twenty six every year for a lot of Australians it
Speaker 15: is the anniversary of when they score allegiance to US
Speaker 15: and January twenty six is more than Captain Philip arriving
Speaker 15: in Sydney Cove in eight. This is a very solemn
Speaker 15: day for Australia and the Australian flag is at the
Speaker 15: heart of it. I've watched refugees kiss that flag because
Speaker 15: they're allowed to be part of our country. They've become citizens.
Speaker 15: So I think it's demeaning to THEMSY. If we don't
Speaker 15: need any more division, one flag, one country, let's get.
Speaker 1: On with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I feel strongly about Australia Day as well.
Speaker 3: I think we all should have a day where we
Speaker 3: can celebrate this incredible country that we live in, and
Speaker 3: we need to defend that because we have a lot
Speaker 3: to be grateful for and we are constantly fighting for
Speaker 3: it to remain a good country as we should well.
Speaker 3: Rupert Murdoch has paid an emotional visit today to the
Speaker 3: Addas Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, where he witnessed for himself.
Speaker 3: The devastation here is this is so incredible that he
Speaker 3: did this that he went to see it for himself.
Speaker 3: He's there with my colleague Andrew Bolt beside him.
Speaker 2: Gemma, this is leadership isn't it. Of course, it's leadership
Speaker 2: from a media company.
Speaker 14: I mean the thing that has staggered me most about
Speaker 14: not just the aftermath of this terror attack, but since
Speaker 14: October seven, it's almost been a reluctance from the federal
Speaker 14: government to admit it. It's like this consistent oh it's
Speaker 14: not that bad, or Israel like this victim blaming and
Speaker 14: then of course the Prime minister's priority is on full displayed.
Speaker 14: Rather stay in Perth on the beers with his donors
Speaker 14: and then'sday for another day and play tennis, and everyone
Speaker 14: needs to remember that that was his choice, even knowing
Speaker 14: what had happened, So it wasn't like he was caught out.
Speaker 14: It wasn't like with Scott Morrison. He was on holiday
Speaker 14: with his family. The Prime Minister was only three hours
Speaker 14: away by plane and fully knew what had happened, but
Speaker 14: still chose to stay there. And we've seen no leadership
Speaker 14: from the government despite their late to the party garbage
Speaker 14: over the last couple of days.
Speaker 2: This is leadership.
Speaker 14: This is someone who's not a public figure in the
Speaker 14: sense that when he's on the public pay roll, he's
Speaker 14: a private citizen, but as a leader of a media
Speaker 14: organization has chosen to go do what journalists do, go
Speaker 14: to the scene of the action, see for yourself and
Speaker 14: bear witness for yourself.
Speaker 3: And it comes after Lachlan Murdoch made the visit to
Speaker 3: Israel as well after October seven. Gary, I just want
Speaker 3: to quickly ask you about another topic that Albanezy government
Speaker 3: now going to well effectively with big tech asking the
Speaker 3: companies to pay for Australian News, for our news content,
Speaker 3: for our journalism.
Speaker 2: This is a good move.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: Social media companies don't pay for journalism. It is expensive.
Speaker 3: It's about time they started paying for content that they
Speaker 3: profit off.
Speaker 15: What do you think, Well, they're looking for a free ride.
Speaker 15: They think that they can use other people's efforts and
Speaker 15: make money out of it. It is I think important
Speaker 15: point of principle. I don't disagree with that at all, Shari.
Speaker 1: And you know I.
Speaker 15: Support those who actually report the news and present the
Speaker 15: news and put it forward and then distribution goes in
Speaker 15: many forms. So I get why Facebook think they can
Speaker 15: make money out of it. But I've got to tell you,
Speaker 15: really is exactly what you just talked about. You know,
Speaker 15: you've got to pick a side on these things. And
Speaker 15: I think the Prime Minister they could be using this
Speaker 15: particular fight with Meta as a distraction from his failures
Speaker 15: on leadership on multiple fronts, his failure to work out
Speaker 15: ethically morally whose side he was on, on the whole
Speaker 15: problem of what's going on in Israel and what happened
Speaker 15: in Melbourne. So look, let's not be too distracted by it.
Speaker 15: It is the right move, but let's not forget this
Speaker 15: other big game that's also going on.
Speaker 1: Right now.
Speaker 3: We've actually run out of time for any more debate
Speaker 3: about this. We'll come back to it, I'm sure in
Speaker 3: the new year. Gary Hargrave, Jemma Tognini, both of you
Speaker 3: have a wonderful.
Speaker 14: Chrismas happy Hearneke, thank you, all.
Speaker 2: Right, don't go anywhere.
Speaker 3: Michael Danby will rip into Tony Burke after the break.
Speaker 2: And my final thoughts on this year. All right, my final.
Speaker 3: Guest of the year, former Chair of the Parliamentary Foreign
Speaker 3: Affairs and Defense Committee, Michael Danby, And Michael, I'm so
Speaker 3: glad you're on tonight because my guests on this topic
Speaker 3: earlier in the show we're deeply disappointing. Matt Canavan and
Speaker 3: Basil Zamplers So Michael, tell me what you think of
Speaker 3: Tony Burk's decision to subject Israeli's to questions about genocide
Speaker 3: and war crimes.
Speaker 16: When we're in Parliament, Tony Burke said to me, never
Speaker 16: invite me to an Israeli or Jewish function. That's the
Speaker 16: context for this extraordinary policy of interrogating Israeli tourists. No
Speaker 16: other democracy is subject to it. So I would make
Speaker 16: that point to Matt Canavan, and of course China and
Speaker 16: Russia about who Comrade Wong speaks so much. Their tourists
Speaker 16: are not interrogated, nor are the three thousand Gardens inculcated
Speaker 16: and indoctrinated with decades of hateful UNRA propaganda, unless they're
Speaker 16: referred to asio interrogated before they come into Australia. So
Speaker 16: you know, so Tony Burok's persona is key to this.
Speaker 16: He has a very strong view everything he's doing. I
Speaker 16: know how calculating Tony Burke is will be within the law,
Speaker 16: but it's designed to wedge and split the two countries,
Speaker 16: two democracies, one fighting for its existence against the Seven
Speaker 16: Front War from all of Irani Iran's proxies. It's designed
Speaker 16: to split the two countries. That's what it'll do by
Speaker 16: forcing young tourists to ask questions about their military service, which,
Speaker 16: as you pointed out, Chari, all of.
Speaker 1: Them have to do.
Speaker 16: It's part of exactly democratic existence in Israel.
Speaker 3: Exactly exactly part of insuring Israel continues to exist. Michael Danby,
Speaker 3: thank you for your strong voice throughout the year.
Speaker 16: Chari, your boss Rupert Murdock is a mench for doing that.
Speaker 2: Today means agreed, agreed before we rap.
Speaker 3: And to you two before we rap for the last
Speaker 3: time in twenty twenty I just want to say a
Speaker 3: quick farewell to all of you at home. That's not
Speaker 3: been an easy year, whether it's cost of living or
Speaker 3: anti Semitism. Let's hope twenty twenty five is a better
Speaker 3: year on these fronts and that it finally sees our
Speaker 3: hostages brought home. I feel so truly privileged to be
Speaker 3: able to sit here every night, effectively join you in
Speaker 3: your homes every night and bring you the news and
Speaker 3: our breaking stories. I've so appreciated your company, and I
Speaker 3: also want to send a huge thanks to my incredible
Speaker 3: team behind the scenes here, Executive producer Montanna Duncan, who's
Speaker 3: always in my ear telling me I have to wrap
Speaker 3: up interviews other producers Bella MacDonald and Maria Milgate, and
Speaker 3: before she went and had her gorgeous little baby Asaiah,
Speaker 3: my former producer Sarah Cazi. Also to our control room
Speaker 3: directors Peter and Kerry, a big thank you, especially for
Speaker 3: the sense of humor, and to everyone of course at home.
Speaker 3: Just have it relaxing and most importantly safe holiday. Merry Christmas,
Speaker 3: Happy Kanukah and happy New Year. I look forward to
Speaker 3: spending twenty twenty five with you here at eight o'clock
Speaker 3: Monday to Thursday. Have a sensational time, look forward to
Speaker 3: the busy election year next year. That's it from me
Speaker 3: for twenty twenty four. And here's Paul Murray