Speaker 1: Why on Sky News This is.
Speaker 2: Sharry Good Evening tonight. The evidence that suggests Peter Dutton
Speaker 2: could win the federal election my.
Speaker 3: Report in a moment.
Speaker 2: Also on the show, Albanezi accused of a weak response
Speaker 2: after reports Russia has executed a young Australian. I'll get
Speaker 2: the latest with James Willis and Michael Kroger in a moment,
Speaker 2: and as Israel prepares to sign a hostage deal with Hermas,
Speaker 2: I'll be joined tonight by Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister. That
Speaker 2: exclusive interview coming up later. Plus there are fresh hopes
Speaker 2: that the Bibas family will be among those released, and
Speaker 2: one hostage family member will join me live from Israel.
Speaker 2: But let's start tonight with the question we're all asking
Speaker 2: who will win the federal election and could Peter Dutton
Speaker 2: actually get there? Well, it's now a live possibility that
Speaker 2: Dutton will be the next Prime Minister of Australia and
Speaker 2: that Albanzi will make history, not in the way he wants,
Speaker 2: not with a legacy defining, nation changing, transformative agenda, but
Speaker 2: he could make history by being the first prime minister
Speaker 2: in nearly a century to lose government after just one term.
Speaker 2: We know that the polls say that it's neck and neck,
Speaker 2: but Dutton does have a.
Speaker 3: Very good chance of winning. And here's why.
Speaker 2: At the last election when Albanze won, Labour's primary vote
Speaker 2: was a historic low of just thirty three percent, the
Speaker 2: lowest in the history of the Labor Party.
Speaker 3: And that's when Albereze.
Speaker 2: Campaigned heavily on cost of living, and he pledged that
Speaker 2: all areas of life would be more affordable.
Speaker 4: Costive living increases, hostive living, costive living, pressures of living,
Speaker 4: cost living, cost of living off the cost of living,
Speaker 4: cost of living, cost of everythings, living, cost of issues
Speaker 4: there in mind. The cost of living pressures.
Speaker 2: Well, they were the mount everest of broken promises and
Speaker 2: Australians know it. Voters feel on a daily basis that
Speaker 2: life is more expensive. Every transaction at the supermarket or
Speaker 2: the local shops, well there's the shock at just how
Speaker 2: much basic items now cost. You never get used to
Speaker 2: paying five dollars or more for a coffee or nine
Speaker 2: dollars for grated cheese. This is the cost of living
Speaker 2: crisis that Albaneze pledged to solve, but has only worsened
Speaker 2: under his watch. So if Labour's vote was thirty three
Speaker 2: percent before Albanese's broken promises. Well, I can tell you
Speaker 2: labor heavyweights are shuddering when they think what it will
Speaker 2: be now. Now, the coalition was left with just fifty
Speaker 2: eight or fifty nine seats after the last election. So
Speaker 2: to win majority government, which is seventy six seats, Dutton
Speaker 2: needs to pick up between seventeen and nineteen seats and
Speaker 2: that's because of the aston by election and a couple
Speaker 2: of other redistributions.
Speaker 3: So this is a huge ask, but it's not impossible.
Speaker 2: Tony Abbott won eighteen seats in twenty thirteen after the
Speaker 2: chaos of the Rudd Gillard Rudd era. Rudd won twenty
Speaker 2: three seats against John Howard in two thousand and seven
Speaker 2: and Labour went into that election holding just sixty seats,
Speaker 2: so not too dissimilar to the coalitions now. And yet
Speaker 2: under Rudd Label's return to government with eighty three seats.
Speaker 2: That was a landslide that Rudd wasted, and John Howard's
Speaker 2: win before that was even larger. He picked up twenty
Speaker 2: nine seats when he took office in nineteen ninety six
Speaker 2: against Paul Keating. So yes, Peter Dutton trying to win
Speaker 2: between seventeen and nineteen seats is a lot, for sure,
Speaker 2: but it's not unprecedented, although it would be virtually unprecedented
Speaker 2: after a.
Speaker 3: First term in office.
Speaker 2: But there are compelling reasons why this is looking achievable.
Speaker 2: Support for Albanezy has crashed. The Herald's Resolve political monitor
Speaker 2: shows his net likability has dropped from a honeymoon high
Speaker 2: of thirty four percent to minus seventeen and some research
Speaker 2: suggests his now as unpopular as Scott Morrison was ahead
Speaker 2: of the last election.
Speaker 3: And this is a reflection of.
Speaker 2: His multitude of broken promises and his weakness as PM.
Speaker 2: Now Albanizey returned to power, he returned labor to power
Speaker 2: after nine years, a long time in the wilderness. But
Speaker 2: then you have to look at what has he actually.
Speaker 3: Done in office? As Peter Dutton.
Speaker 2: Said yesterday, well, albanize doesn't appear to have any legacy
Speaker 2: to speak of.
Speaker 5: What is the government achieved over the course of the
Speaker 5: last three years.
Speaker 1: If they'd achieved anything.
Speaker 5: That he wouldn't have to resort daily to the personal
Speaker 5: attacks on me and my colleagues.
Speaker 2: Albanese's big move that was meant to define his legacy.
Speaker 3: The Voice to Parliament.
Speaker 2: It only divided our country, and he further divided our
Speaker 2: country with his government's obsession with criticizing Israel, which has
Speaker 2: only contributed to a terrifying rise in racism against Jews. Personally,
Speaker 2: Alberzi has also shown Australians who he truly is weak, ineffective,
Speaker 2: not very intelligent, certainly never the smartest person in any room.
Speaker 2: He's not across the detail. He's unable to exercise authority
Speaker 2: over his own cabinet. You look at ministers like Tony Burke,
Speaker 2: Pennywoe or Tanya Plebisek, and I can also tell you that,
Speaker 2: aside from the polls, many seasoned and high profile political
Speaker 2: analysts have privately told me that they form the opinion
Speaker 2: that Dutton will win the next election. And if Albanzi
Speaker 2: does make history and losers after just one term in office,
Speaker 2: he will go down as one of the worst prime
Speaker 2: ministers in Australia's history. He's squandered the time and hasn't
Speaker 2: done a single thing to make our country a better place.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: As you know, there's an antisemitism emergency in Australia, yet
Speaker 2: Anthony Alberzi is rejecting calls for more meaningful and tougher action,
Speaker 2: even calls from his own hand picked antisemitism envoy Gillian
Speaker 2: Siegul Seagull today demanded a national cabinet to deal with
Speaker 2: the now near daily anti Semitic incidents terrorizing the Jewish community.
Speaker 2: She called for mandatory sentencing and strong penalties across state
Speaker 2: jurisdictions for anti Semitic incidents, and Siegel spoke today about
Speaker 2: how really serious incidents like setting fire to a Jewish
Speaker 2: politician's office or breaching security to protest on the roof
Speaker 2: of Parliament House have gone virtually unpunished, with judicial decisions
Speaker 2: not even recording a conviction. She explained why strong action
Speaker 2: was so important when she spoke with my friend Chris
Speaker 2: Kenny earlier.
Speaker 3: This evening.
Speaker 6: National cabinet at least shows that we have the political
Speaker 6: leaders are focused.
Speaker 3: Very much on the issue.
Speaker 6: Certainly, the Prime Minister responded very promptly and rang me
Speaker 6: immediately and we had a couple of chats. As he
Speaker 6: said there, and I think having the premiers of New
Speaker 6: South Wales and Victoria and the Federal Police Commissioner speak
Speaker 6: together urgently was a really good first step. But of
Speaker 6: course these crimes are not just limited to New southwesn Victoria.
Speaker 2: And she went on to speak about the need for
Speaker 2: a national cabinet, which makes complete sense. It's the very
Speaker 2: least that should be happening, because at the moment this
Speaker 2: racism against Jews is being tolerated. It's getting out of
Speaker 2: hand and I'm starting to despair that it just can't
Speaker 2: be put back in the box. Instead of supporting these
Speaker 2: very basic demands a national cabinet, they've had one on
Speaker 2: so many issues. Well, alban easy shrug this off once again.
Speaker 5: Jillian Segel has to call today for mandatory prison sentences,
Speaker 5: for a tax on synagogues.
Speaker 7: Is that something you would support?
Speaker 4: Look, I think that we have a separation of powers
Speaker 4: in Australia between politics and the judiciary. I think that's
Speaker 4: an important principle. But I certainly support people who make
Speaker 4: these any submittish attacks facing the full force of the law.
Speaker 4: They are state laws.
Speaker 2: On and on, he droned, and that was his stubborn
Speaker 2: response to this crisis, this emergency that's exploding all around
Speaker 2: us now. Peter Dutton has twice written to the Prime
Speaker 2: Minister demanding he convene a national cabinet. He first wrote
Speaker 2: to him in November and again today, and this is
Speaker 2: what his letter today says. It is particularly alarming that
Speaker 2: incidents such as the firebombing of the Adash Synagogue and
Speaker 2: repeated acts of hate speech have been met with what
Speaker 2: miss Siegel aptly described as effective impunity. Stronger action is
Speaker 2: needed to send a clear message that antisemitism and hate
Speaker 2: crimes of any kind will not be tolerated in Australia.
Speaker 2: This situation threatens not only the safety of Jewish Australians,
Speaker 2: but also the social cohesion and democratic values of our nation.
Speaker 2: But I won't hold my breath for Albanzi to bother
Speaker 2: to respond to that letter, even for him to start
Speaker 2: caring about this issue, truly caring, because Albanesi is also
Speaker 2: refusing to acknowledge that his own government's hostile and inaccurate
Speaker 2: accusations against Israel have fueled anti Semitism in Australia, that
Speaker 2: their abuse of Israel's actions as it has tried to
Speaker 2: bring home hostages and defeat terror have only emboldened the haters.
Speaker 2: The Albanese government's very criticisms are echoed by pro Palestinian
Speaker 2: extremists who level the same accusations against Israel. But in
Speaker 2: a dangerous way that is now manifesting as attacks against
Speaker 2: Jews and synagogues. Albanesi has refused to acknowledge this fronting
Speaker 2: fact that his own government is partly responsible for the
Speaker 2: unprecedented racism we are seeing now. I know that Albanezy
Speaker 2: thinks voters don't really care about.
Speaker 3: This issue, but he's wrong.
Speaker 2: He needs to understand that the vast majority of voting
Speaker 2: Australians don't like the hatred and violence that's arisen in
Speaker 2: our suburbs and city streets. It's the antithesis of the
Speaker 2: values we embrace that.
Speaker 3: We're proud of as Australians.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister has comprehensively failed to shut this racism down,
Speaker 2: and now he's rejecting the advice of his own appointee.
Speaker 2: This is the worst failure of leadership on an issue
Speaker 2: of absolute, critical importance and national security. Okay, we will
Speaker 2: get to the Australian who's been reportedly executed by Russia
Speaker 2: in a moment, but I want to first start with
Speaker 2: returning to that political discussion about Albanese's prospects and Dutton's
Speaker 2: at the election. Let's bring in former Victorian Liberal Party
Speaker 2: president Michael Kroger and Daily Telegraph journalist James Willis.
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
Speaker 2: Michael, what do you think about Peter Dutton's chances of
Speaker 2: winning the next election?
Speaker 8: So I'd said for several months now Peter Dutton's favorite
Speaker 8: to win the election, and I think as every day
Speaker 8: goes by Shari his prospects are improving inch by inch.
Speaker 8: I don't think there's any of the Albanese he's done
Speaker 8: in the last few months, or has been able to
Speaker 8: do in the last few months, or can do in
Speaker 8: the next few months to turn this around. This is
Speaker 8: a worldwide phenomena against sort of these left wing governments
Speaker 8: who have collapsed in the face of left wing activism
Speaker 8: left wing demands, and the Western world is correcting towards
Speaker 8: the middle and Albanize he's out there with all of
Speaker 8: these others hard left leaders who have been led by
Speaker 8: the nose by extreme left activists with all of their
Speaker 8: causes in the middle working class Australians like they are
Speaker 8: elsewhere in the world, have had enough. They disgusted and
Speaker 8: want Albansi and these other governments to start concentrating on them.
Speaker 8: But they now Albanesi can't and won't and that's why
Speaker 8: I think he's going to lose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and as I mentioned before, the polling is not
Speaker 2: looking good either. James I mentioned the Herald's Political Monitor survey.
Speaker 2: Its shows support for Albanzi collapsing, but Darton support is
Speaker 2: rising minus twelve percent a year ago to now a
Speaker 2: net rating of zero. So do you think that the
Speaker 2: issues Darton is speaking about on a daily basis, some
Speaker 2: of them cultural issues like Australia Day, do you think
Speaker 2: this is winning over voters?
Speaker 9: Well, I certainly think that it is a very significant problem.
Speaker 9: When we've heard that Victoria, which has traditionally been the
Speaker 9: Liberal Party's worst performing seat, now there's some potential to
Speaker 9: win three, four, maybe five seats in Victoria. But the
Speaker 9: wider issue I think Sharry. I mean, obviously, a simple
Speaker 9: math sum indicates that with the swings left behind from
Speaker 9: the loss in twenty twenty two, that it's going to
Speaker 9: be hard mathematically for Peter Dutton to win the next election. However,
Speaker 9: the one point that I think can't be overlooked is
Speaker 9: you have a look at the Prime minister's performance on
Speaker 9: a daily basis and it's hard to pinpoint where this
Speaker 9: actually shifted, whether it be the voice defeat, whether it
Speaker 9: be the stuff around his house on the Central coast,
Speaker 9: maybe the quantus stuff. But I just wonder whether he's
Speaker 9: actually up for what the next few weeks or a
Speaker 9: few months actually entails. He looks frustrated, he looks tired.
Speaker 9: He's never really ever across he's brief fully to an
Speaker 9: extent where he can actually make a personal comment. And
Speaker 9: you've just played that clip in regards to a question
Speaker 9: about mandatory sentence as well. I mean, he's the Prime minister,
Speaker 9: so he's entitled to have some sort of overarching view,
Speaker 9: and would expect him to do that without people firing shots.
Speaker 9: I'd much rather him and say, well, you know what, personally,
Speaker 9: I think that's a very sensible idea that should be
Speaker 9: investigated at a state level. Instead, he passes that, he
Speaker 9: passes the next thing. He is terribly advised, and as
Speaker 9: I say, I just wonder if he has enough puff
Speaker 9: left in him to get through this election. He looks tired, frustrated,
Speaker 9: and too often not across his brief.
Speaker 2: I mean, how hard can it be as a prime
Speaker 2: minister to say, of course, someone who attacks a synagogue
Speaker 2: should go to jail. I mean, it's the most simple
Speaker 2: thing to say. But he can't say that. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's just absurd who this guy is that is leading
Speaker 2: our country. I don't know how we ended up with
Speaker 2: him in Chide. Honestly, I shake my head, Mykeaul.
Speaker 8: I want to ask Cherry, Cherry, look look look, look,
Speaker 8: look look at it. Look at it this way, look
Speaker 8: at it this way. Here's the answer to question. He
Speaker 8: doesn't get it. He never has. He doesn't understand. This
Speaker 8: guy is sixty one, right, He's been in public office
Speaker 8: for twenty eight years. Twenty eight years. He's been a
Speaker 8: public figure, meeting tens of thousands of people a year.
Speaker 8: He went to his first bar mitzvah he invited himself
Speaker 8: to in Perth a few weeks ago. What no one
Speaker 8: had ever invited him to a bu mitz before? What
Speaker 8: does it tell you? This guy's got no Jewish friends.
Speaker 8: He doesn't know any one of the Jewish community beyond
Speaker 8: superficial Hello, how are you? He doesn't feel it, he
Speaker 8: doesn't understand it. Right, he's been rabbiting on against Israel
Speaker 8: ever since those pure old demonstrations he's involved in years
Speaker 8: and year, decades ago. This guy has had no Jewish
Speaker 8: friends throughout the whole of his life. And as I said,
Speaker 8: when you're invited to bar Mitzvah, as many people have
Speaker 8: Jewish friends have been over the years, if you've never been,
Speaker 8: and you've been, and you're sixty one, for goodness sake, right,
Speaker 8: he doesn't understand Israel. He doesn't understand the Jewish community.
Speaker 8: He never has, he never has. And Shari, you know
Speaker 8: it's now what fourteen months, fifteen months beyond October seven.
Speaker 8: We can talk all we want about the government doing something,
Speaker 8: getting it, understand any it. They never will, right, he
Speaker 8: just doesn't understand it. And nor does that appalling appalling
Speaker 8: foreigners to Pennywong.
Speaker 2: Well, I actually think they do understand it, and they
Speaker 2: are horribly morally confused.
Speaker 3: And I think that's worse. Michael, I think.
Speaker 2: That it says a lot about their character. It truly does. James,
Speaker 2: what do you think about this issue? You know Alban
Speaker 2: Easy today rejecting the need for a national cabinet on
Speaker 2: anti Semitism when this emergency has arisen under his watch.
Speaker 9: Well, I think, given some of the reasons that national
Speaker 9: cabinets have been held previously, it's a pretty standard request
Speaker 9: and we have seen this horrific issue continue to grow.
Speaker 9: It is spreading. We've had issues across Sydney, We've had
Speaker 9: issues in other parts of New South Wales as well.
Speaker 9: We've had the horrific fire bombing of the synagogue in Melbourne,
Speaker 9: and so we are now at a point where I
Speaker 9: think it would be pretty sensible to get the leaders
Speaker 9: of the country together and start actually coming up with
Speaker 9: some solutions. Michael's made a good point and I think
Speaker 9: it's worth expanding on that. This is really highlighted the
Speaker 9: yawning gap over this issue in the Middle East in
Speaker 9: the Labor Party, because every time someone from the Labor
Speaker 9: Party makes a sensible decision, and I think in fairness
Speaker 9: in isolation, Mark Dreyfus going to Israel to try and
Speaker 9: repair some of the damage and some of the decisions
Speaker 9: we've made on the international stage in isolation is okay.
Speaker 9: But even that trip had people in Labour saying, hey,
Speaker 9: there's a please explain he Why is Mark Dreyfus doing this?
Speaker 9: Why is Mark Drafers cuddling up to Israel. We've had
Speaker 9: the Prime Minister to do this, Chris Mins is doing
Speaker 9: it in New South Wales, but every time someone from
Speaker 9: Labor fronts up and says hey, we can't be tolerating
Speaker 9: this in this country.
Speaker 3: Then we hear other people in labor.
Speaker 9: I will note there has been some senior labor ministers
Speaker 9: in Sydney Sharry who have been very very quiet on
Speaker 9: this issue. And I reckon it's a massive story that
Speaker 9: we have electorates in Sydney that have now large Muslim
Speaker 9: populations and someone in polling has said, hey, you need
Speaker 9: to worry about your own seed here, stay out of
Speaker 9: this because otherwise we're going to lose this seat or
Speaker 9: be in trouble.
Speaker 3: We've seen in.
Speaker 2: Parts about racism correct, no leadership.
Speaker 9: They've gone into Heidi and there's many of them in
Speaker 9: Sydney and we.
Speaker 3: Know who they are. We really do.
Speaker 9: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Now let's return to this young Australian who may have
Speaker 2: been We haven't got confirmation yet, but it has been
Speaker 2: reported that Oscar Jenkins may have been executed by Russian
Speaker 2: forces after he was captured in Ukraine. Well, here was
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister speaking about this today.
Speaker 4: If there has been any harm caused to Oscar Jenkins,
Speaker 4: it's absolutely reprehensible and the Australian government will take the
Speaker 4: strongest action possible.
Speaker 3: All right, Dunan was a bit stronger.
Speaker 2: He said, there does need to be serious repercussions if
Speaker 2: this thirty two year old has been killed by Russia,
Speaker 2: have a look.
Speaker 5: If there is confirmation that that Oscar has been killed,
Speaker 5: then the government should take the strongest possible action, and
Speaker 5: that is the ambassador should be withdrawn and the ambassador
Speaker 5: here in Australia should be sent packing.
Speaker 2: I mean, Michael, it really doesn't get worse than this,
Speaker 2: to think that on Australian could have been executed by Russia.
Speaker 2: Did you think Albanesi's response was strong enough today.
Speaker 8: Well, of course not. I mean you can just mentioned
Speaker 8: Vladimir Putin over there in the Kremlin in moscowb scared
Speaker 8: out of his wits tonight that Alberanze said he's going
Speaker 8: to take some tough action against him. I mean, would
Speaker 8: be thinking this play can't protect the Jewish community in Australia.
Speaker 8: Why would I take this light at bit of notice
Speaker 8: of his clown. I mean, seriously, Albanesi, you know he
Speaker 8: doesn't get these foreign policy issues. I mean to take
Speaker 8: your point before. Do I think Albanize is a bad person? No, no,
Speaker 8: I don't. But to understand Israel than the Jewish community.
Speaker 8: You've got to have lived it, You've got you've got
Speaker 8: to spend years studying the history. This is why I
Speaker 8: just don't think Albanzi, I don't think he's hateful towards
Speaker 8: the Jewish community all. I just think he's profoundly ignorant
Speaker 8: and he doesn't understand, which is why he always looks
Speaker 8: at sea, you know, in these things. But again on
Speaker 8: your point on Russia, I mean, look putin to look
Speaker 8: at this bloke and think, seriously, this is a bloke
Speaker 8: sending Pennywog and Kevin Rudd to Donald Trump's inauguration. That's
Speaker 8: how in touch he is with realogy. Jerry.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's pretty bad, James.
Speaker 2: If we do get confirmation, and Canberra has demanded it,
Speaker 2: but we might see social media videos that you know,
Speaker 2: confirmation might come one way or the other. And you
Speaker 2: can imagine Oscar's family are absolutely they would be absolutely
Speaker 2: devastated and terrified and very anxious waiting for news. But James,
Speaker 2: if there is confirmation, I mean, surely, expelling the Russian
Speaker 2: ambassadors the very least we could do.
Speaker 9: Yeah, that should be an option. And firstly, thoughts and
Speaker 9: prayers to Oscar and his family. It is a terrible
Speaker 9: story and it's one that has been held right across
Speaker 9: Australia and heard. But I think on this one, it's
Speaker 9: a very very difficult one. Unless I'm missing something, and
Speaker 9: Michael might have more on this, but for both sides. Sure,
Speaker 9: I thought the comments were okay. I thought they were
Speaker 9: some of the Prime Minister's better comments today from his
Speaker 9: press conference. But I just wonder in a war zone
Speaker 9: and given how sure this is a terrible situation, but realistically, practically,
Speaker 9: what more could be done here? Like is it even
Speaker 9: possible to haul the ambassador in and kick him out?
Speaker 9: We certainly should be expecting answers, but we've seen this
Speaker 9: all too far with the plane shot down by Russia
Speaker 9: more than ten years ago. We were deeply angry about
Speaker 9: that at the time, deeply outraged, demanding answers, but tragically
Speaker 9: it didn't play out that way. So I'm not sure
Speaker 9: it's an easy one to get solutions on.
Speaker 2: And by the way, I spoke to one expert in
Speaker 2: this area. He's going to be on my show tomorrow night,
Speaker 2: Robert Potter, but I spoke with him today and he
Speaker 2: said to me that he thinks that Australia should immediately
Speaker 2: impose financial penalties on Russia until we given proof of life,
Speaker 2: and that if we don't get it, we should be
Speaker 2: giving a very large donation to Ukraine as punishment for
Speaker 2: a war crime. And so that's Robert Potter's view. He'll
Speaker 2: be on my show tomorrow night. James Willis, Michael Kroger,
Speaker 2: thank you both so much for joining me. Now, we've
Speaker 2: been speaking about whether Peter Darton will win the next election,
Speaker 2: and the reality is he won't need to just win
Speaker 2: seats from Labor but also win back Teal seats as well. Now,
Speaker 2: party insiders tend to agree that the blue ribbon seat
Speaker 2: of Wentworth in Sydney's East is going to be pretty close.
Speaker 2: It was once held by Malcolm Turnbull and it fell
Speaker 2: to Teal a Legraspender at the last election. Businesswoman Roe
Speaker 2: Knox is trying to win back the seat for the
Speaker 2: Liberals and she joins me here in studio. Now, Row,
Speaker 2: welcome to the show. How tough is the battle in
Speaker 2: Wentworth at the moment?
Speaker 10: Look, Shari, I'd say the campaign's going really really well.
Speaker 10: We've got a high energy team out there. We've been
Speaker 10: listening to the community. We've spoken to thousands and thousands
Speaker 10: of people and Chari, what I'd say is people are
Speaker 10: coming back.
Speaker 3: People are coming.
Speaker 10: Back to the Liberal Party and that's because people attribute
Speaker 10: the cost of living crisis to labor, Greens and the Teals.
Speaker 2: Look, all of the seats are pretty closely monitored and polled.
Speaker 2: Can you give us some insight into what the polling
Speaker 2: is telling you about whether you can when.
Speaker 10: Years Look, we did some initial baseline polling and what
Speaker 10: we're hearing on the ground is it's going to be
Speaker 10: extremely close. We think the campaign's going really well. People
Speaker 10: are telling us they're ready for a change, they want
Speaker 10: a change in government, and cost of living is the
Speaker 10: biggest priority and issue in the seat.
Speaker 2: So you're out daw knocking every single day. This is
Speaker 2: full time for you, it is. And is this what
Speaker 2: you're hearing? Cost of life? That's the type issue that
Speaker 2: people are raising because I know at the last election
Speaker 2: there was a lot of discussion about energy and climate change.
Speaker 2: But are you hearing that when you're out and about
Speaker 2: in the community.
Speaker 10: Yes, Shari, So we're hearing it's all about cost of living,
Speaker 10: cost of living and cost of living, And I know
Speaker 10: that sounds surprising for Wentworth. But we have a real
Speaker 10: mix of people in Wentworth which makes it such a
Speaker 10: great place to live. So we have almost fifty over
Speaker 10: fifty percent renters and most of those renters are in apartments.
Speaker 10: We also have Housing Commission in Willemloo. I was out
Speaker 10: in Willamloo with the great people of Willemloo yesterday and
Speaker 10: people are really really hurting, and that's shari because electricity
Speaker 10: costs have gone up thirty two percent, personal income tax
Speaker 10: has gone up twenty two percent. Rents we've obviously got
Speaker 10: over fifty percent. Renters in Wentworth have gone up over
Speaker 10: seventeen percent, and even food's gone up twelve percent. And
Speaker 10: that's because of Labor, Greens and the Teals.
Speaker 2: Yea, the candidate you're up against, Allegraspender, the incumbent, she's
Speaker 2: got quite a high profile now in the seat.
Speaker 3: What are you doing to counter that?
Speaker 10: Yes, we're not focused on her campaign. We're focused on
Speaker 10: listening to our community. So we're running a really high
Speaker 10: energy grassroots campaign and we're just listening to what our
Speaker 10: community wants.
Speaker 3: Yeah, fair enough.
Speaker 2: Look you went to Israel recently. Dutton has been calling
Speaker 2: for a national cabinet on anti Semitism. I mentioned his
Speaker 2: two letters in my editorial at the start of the show.
Speaker 2: Do you think the Prime Minister should call, should convene
Speaker 2: a national cabinet on this issue.
Speaker 10: Yes, I absolutely do, and Peter obviously sent that letter
Speaker 10: to the Prime Minister over a year ago.
Speaker 3: We need a.
Speaker 10: National cabinet because this is now a national crisis and
Speaker 10: we need a standardized approach to dealing with this what
Speaker 10: has become a.
Speaker 2: Crisis because you're a of course, has one of the
Speaker 2: highest number of Jewish voters in the country.
Speaker 10: Yes, it has the highest and as you know, Shari,
Speaker 10: our electorates being targeted by numerous anti Semitic attacks in
Speaker 10: Willara Queen's Park and even the Bondai files from last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, a terrible situation. All right, Ronanes, thank you,
Speaker 2: thank you very much for joining me tonight.
Speaker 3: Really appreciate the time.
Speaker 10: Thanks Shari for having me on the show.
Speaker 2: Now still to come of the program tonight, Israel's Deputy
Speaker 2: Foreign Minister would join me live for an exclusive interview
Speaker 2: on the hostage deal that's now in its final stages.
Speaker 2: Plus the Prime Minister has opened up the checkbook and
Speaker 2: a blatant attempt to buy votes in marginal seats. But
Speaker 2: will this cash grab work? That's all coming up. Welcome back. Well,
Speaker 2: let's bring in now our Wednesday political panel. This week
Speaker 2: it's Labor MP Daniel Melino and Liberal MP Garth Hamilton.
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both.
Speaker 2: Look, let's go at the latest on the la fires
Speaker 2: and talk about the lessons for Australia. There's been another
Speaker 2: round of Santa Ana wins. It's forecast to hit California.
Speaker 2: We're being told that they won't be as dangerous though
Speaker 2: as last week. But these catastrophic fires should serve as
Speaker 2: a warning to our own leaders here in Australia not
Speaker 2: to play progressive politics when it comes to fire protection.
Speaker 2: They need to focus on backburning and water supply. Daniel,
Speaker 2: what do you think we can learn from how California's
Speaker 2: leadership has prepared or not prepared for these fires?
Speaker 11: Well, Charlie, thanks for having me on. And I don't
Speaker 11: want to ruin this panel by starting with a contribution
Speaker 11: that I think Garth and I might agree on at
Speaker 11: least in part. But Garth and I spend a lot
Speaker 11: of the last year on an inquiry which looked at
Speaker 11: flood insurance around Australia, and I actually think there are
Speaker 11: a lot of lessons that came out of that inquiry
Speaker 11: which point to some of the things that could have
Speaker 11: been done better In California. One of the lessons there
Speaker 11: was that in relation to floods, but also I think
Speaker 11: other natural disasters like fire, we need to spend more
Speaker 11: as a nation at federal and state level on mitigation
Speaker 11: and preparation for decades, and this goes across all colors
Speaker 11: of government and levels of government. We've spent far more
Speaker 11: on cleaning up after messrs and not enough on mitigation
Speaker 11: and preparation, and I think that partly goes to your point.
Speaker 11: So that's one of the issues. I think there's also
Speaker 11: a broader point around insurance, and one of the things
Speaker 11: that we found was that we need to have stronger
Speaker 11: protections for consumers. We need clearer insurance policies, insurance policies
Speaker 11: that have much clearer exclusions, and better dispute resolution procedures.
Speaker 11: So I think there are things that Australia is already
Speaker 11: doing to prepare better, but of course there's always more
Speaker 11: because we know there are going to be more of
Speaker 11: these disasters.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think those are really important points. But Garth,
Speaker 2: I want to pick up on there's back burning issue
Speaker 2: because I know I get contacted a lot by farmers
Speaker 2: who are concerned that, you know, they've been called for certain.
Speaker 3: Areas to have and it's just not done.
Speaker 2: Do you think that we do need to examine this
Speaker 2: more closely rather than wait for a national catastrophe.
Speaker 7: Look, absolutely, I do. Like many people in my community,
Speaker 7: I'm a member of my local rural fire brigade. Every
Speaker 7: situation where we come across a time where there's been
Speaker 7: a build up of fuel load on the ground, we've
Speaker 7: known about it. The farmers have known about it, the
Speaker 7: locals have known about it. These local fire brigades are
Speaker 7: made up of those farmers. One of the things that
Speaker 7: Dan and I didn't come across, and I went over
Speaker 7: to the US and spoke with the California authorities over there.
Speaker 7: The more that we can empower local decision making on
Speaker 7: the ground by these fire brigades, the better. These are
Speaker 7: the people who see what's going on, they understand what
Speaker 7: the cause of it is, and I do want to
Speaker 7: raise the issue, unfortunately, does come up quite often. It's
Speaker 7: about the management of our national parks and sometimes we've
Speaker 7: been very reluctant to engage in backburning activities or good
Speaker 7: management of weed control in those parks, which leads to
Speaker 7: this build up. Sadly, that's something that we saw in
Speaker 7: the US and we've seen it here in Australia as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think there probably should be a task force
Speaker 2: to look at preventative fire management, because better than having
Speaker 2: a post mortem, that's for sure.
Speaker 3: Now let's have a.
Speaker 2: Look at just how much the Albeneze government is spending
Speaker 2: in marginal seats and a bid to win votes ahead
Speaker 2: of the next election. The Prime Minister is now being
Speaker 2: accused by the coalition of splashing cash in marginal seats
Speaker 2: and even the Finn Review had an article recently where
Speaker 2: they basically said that the Albanese government promised to be
Speaker 2: on a spending diet but instead has gone on a binge.
Speaker 3: That's in the Financial Review, Daniel.
Speaker 2: You know, so far we've got, among others, a seven
Speaker 2: point two billion dollar upgrade to the Bruce Highway in Queensland,
Speaker 2: two hundred million dollars for projects in regional areas of
Speaker 2: Western Australia, then yesterday five million dollars for a riverfront
Speaker 2: precinct in the very marginal seat of Gilmore. So you
Speaker 2: know what's your response to these accusations.
Speaker 11: Well, look, I'd take what the opposition says when it
Speaker 11: comes to spending with a bucket of salt in that
Speaker 11: when we look at their time in government. Look, we've
Speaker 11: got two budgets in the bank now and they've both
Speaker 11: been surpluses. They had promises of being back in the
Speaker 11: black and coffee mugs and they got zero out of nine.
Speaker 11: So let's take a step back and look at what
Speaker 11: each side of politics has actually delivered over the last
Speaker 11: decade when it comes to spending. I'd also say look
Speaker 11: at the last term of government when it comes to
Speaker 11: the way in which they spent in regional or sorry
Speaker 11: in marginal electorates and used color coded spreadsheets. I think
Speaker 11: anything coming from the opposition is something that one has.
Speaker 3: To Daniel, surely that's not a strike.
Speaker 2: Look at the bruce Way argument to us to say
Speaker 2: that they did it, so we're going to.
Speaker 3: Do the same.
Speaker 2: I mean, we're in an inflation crisis at the moment
Speaker 2: where the IBA has or but said we shouldn't.
Speaker 3: Be having such high government spending.
Speaker 11: So has said that our two surpluses helped put downward
Speaker 11: pressure on inflation, and they have said that they don't
Speaker 11: think that government spending at the moment is one of
Speaker 11: the main reasons why inflation is sticky in the services sector,
Speaker 11: so they certainly haven't pointed to government spending as a
Speaker 11: major issue. But just finally on this issue of the
Speaker 11: Bruce Highway, which is by far the biggest ticket item
Speaker 11: of the ones that you just pointed out. So we
Speaker 11: announced that it's a really important safety measure, really important
Speaker 11: for Queensland travelers and commuters. The opposition complained about it
Speaker 11: and complained about our spending, but then after many stakeholders
Speaker 11: and communities and Roads Australia welcomed it, they then four
Speaker 11: days or five days later backed it in. So where's
Speaker 11: the coherence, where's the credibility from the opposition on this?
Speaker 2: My recollection and I've quoted the statements on this show,
Speaker 2: is that the IBA has spoken about public spending and
Speaker 2: there have been warnings about homegrown inflation.
Speaker 3: But it's not for me to defend this.
Speaker 2: Of course, what's your view. You know, we're not in
Speaker 2: the official campaign. Should we be seeing big spending commitments
Speaker 2: and do you think the coalition also needs to refrain
Speaker 2: from making, you know, big cash splash announcements.
Speaker 7: Well look, let me start up by saying I've got
Speaker 7: a lot of respect for Dan and he knows that.
Speaker 7: But ask yourself how many times did he have to
Speaker 7: point to the opposition or defer back to us when
Speaker 7: you ask him a question about Labour's spending. We've just
Speaker 7: gone through a term of government where Jim Chalmers has
Speaker 7: used the word restraint NonStop, talking about the restraint he's shown,
Speaker 7: and he's spending and yet push comes to shove when
Speaker 7: we get to the election period out comes. The money's
Speaker 7: been thrown around. Anything that's throwing around more is insults
Speaker 7: at Peter Dutton. But there' another sort of issue that
Speaker 7: I think we can get to here. If we look
Speaker 7: at where Labor's having to go down the path of
Speaker 7: this big spending approach, it's because they don't have a mandate.
Speaker 7: They've got no message for the Australian people about what
Speaker 7: a second term of the Albanezy government would look like.
Speaker 7: They're not telling us what they want to do, so
Speaker 7: they're having to rely upon buying vote in marginal seats.
Speaker 7: I think we'll see a lot more of it to come,
Speaker 7: probably a lot more insults at the opposition leader as well.
Speaker 2: Just very quickly, before you go, I want to ask
Speaker 2: about the NBN. I mean, we've seen Matt Canavardan this
Speaker 2: week say that we need to embrace Elon Musk's Starlink
Speaker 2: instead of throwing another three point eight billion dollars at
Speaker 2: the NBN.
Speaker 3: Michelle Roland didn't agree with that.
Speaker 2: Daniel, doesn't it make sense to embrace starlink, I mean
Speaker 2: it's much more affordable.
Speaker 11: Well, I think that we can invest. We need to
Speaker 11: invest in the NBN because too much of what had
Speaker 11: been undertaken under the previous government involved copper. I think
Speaker 11: the previous government and the Royal Navy in the nineteenth
Speaker 11: century of the two greatest copper traders in the last
Speaker 11: two hundred years. But look, we need to keep investing
Speaker 11: in the NBN. But that doesn't mean that we have
Speaker 11: a situation where people can't opt for starlink if it's
Speaker 11: the best option for them. But I believe we don't
Speaker 11: want to have a situation where we are exclusively relying
Speaker 11: on starlink, or where for some people Starling's the only option.
Speaker 11: It's a foreign owned corporation, and that would put too
Speaker 11: much risk into the system. So I think we need
Speaker 11: to keep strengthening our system, and if starlink is the
Speaker 11: best option for some people, then you know they should
Speaker 11: of course up for that.
Speaker 3: Very quick response to that.
Speaker 7: Garth, government's worried about foreign influence. Now, I saw a
Speaker 7: joke today saying they weren't worried about to bring sheqill
Speaker 7: O'Neil into the conversation on the voice. Absolute nonsense. Starlink's
Speaker 7: a great product. It should be used. People are choosing it.
Speaker 7: That's the market response, not a command economy, which is
Speaker 7: labor government's trying to put on us.
Speaker 2: All right, Daniel Malino, Garth Hamilton, really appreciate your time. Now,
Speaker 2: still to come, a father of a former hostage victim
Speaker 2: gives his reaction to the impending hostage deal and still
Speaker 2: to come Israeli's deputy Foreign Minister, don't go anywhere, welcome back. Well,
Speaker 2: there are reports that the Bibas family, and we've all
Speaker 2: been following their story, that they would be among the
Speaker 2: first to be released under the yet to be signed
Speaker 2: hostage deal. Now we haven't seen proof of life for
Speaker 2: baby Kafir, brother Ariel, and their mother, and we just
Speaker 2: pray that they are alive and that they can come
Speaker 2: home safely. I mean, it would be one of the
Speaker 2: most incredible stories of all time. But as I spoke
Speaker 2: about in detail last night, there are pros and cons
Speaker 2: to this deal. It is a deal with the devil,
Speaker 2: and it's far from perfect. It's divided Israel and even
Speaker 2: the Netanyahu government. There are thousands taking to the streets
Speaker 2: to protest both for and against the deal, and some
Speaker 2: senior ministers have vowed to resign if Israel accepts the conditions.
Speaker 3: Now I'm joined now.
Speaker 2: By Joav Engel, whose son of Fia, spent fifty four
Speaker 2: days in Hamask captivity. He was taken from his girlfriend's
Speaker 2: house along with her father, who was murdered decapitated in Gaza,
Speaker 2: and his body hasn't been returned.
Speaker 3: You have thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2: Look, how are you feeling now that the rest of
Speaker 2: the hostages are so close?
Speaker 3: We hope to being released.
Speaker 12: So what can I say? Well, you know, in two hands,
Speaker 12: we are very excited, and we hope, we pray that
Speaker 12: something is going on and the deal is closed. And
Speaker 12: then in the other hand, we we can't not think
Speaker 12: about for all the ostages, all the ninety eight hostages,
Speaker 12: But we hope and we pray that some the deal
Speaker 12: is closed and we start to see some of them
Speaker 12: going out from there and then but we know in
Speaker 12: the other in the other end, that we have a
Speaker 12: lot of work to see all of them going out
Speaker 12: from there, and we hope it's going to be as
Speaker 12: soon that we can.
Speaker 2: And some of the families of the other hostages who
Speaker 2: aren't going to be released in this first wave, they
Speaker 2: are angry that this is the deal that's been struck. Now,
Speaker 2: when you were reunited with your son after he was
Speaker 2: hostage for fifty four days, there's really beautiful video of
Speaker 2: that emotional reunion. Let's have a look. I mean, that's
Speaker 2: what you want for all of the parents.
Speaker 12: That's what that's what we dream all night to see
Speaker 12: other family hugs, are lovers, thet the and they're going
Speaker 12: to released and going out. You know, I say, it's
Speaker 12: more than emotion. And there is no word that can
Speaker 12: say what we feel in this moment. You know, it's
Speaker 12: not worth it, not in English, not in ibrew, not
Speaker 12: in every language. You know, there is no words to say.
Speaker 12: And this is our dream to see all the families
Speaker 12: hug our lovers like that. And you know this is
Speaker 12: the this is the reason that all the families are
Speaker 12: very nervous and very angry about everything because we speak
Speaker 12: about all the ninety eight hostages that are still there
Speaker 12: and we want all of them back home. You know,
Speaker 12: life or death, but we want all of them back
Speaker 12: to the families.
Speaker 2: Indeed, you are thank you so much for joining us tonight,
Speaker 2: and we do pray that everyone is reunited.
Speaker 3: With their family members.
Speaker 2: And look, we just hope as many our lives as possible.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3: Now, don't go anywhere.
Speaker 2: We'll cross back live to Israel, where I'll be joined
Speaker 2: by the Israeli Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister for an exclusive
Speaker 2: interview on the latest on this stage deal.
Speaker 3: That's after this quick break.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's cross live to Israel where I've got Deputy
Speaker 2: Foreign Affairs Minister Sharen Haskell joining me.
Speaker 3: Now. Sharen, thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2: Can you give us all to start with the latest
Speaker 2: on where this hostage deal is at when you expect
Speaker 2: it to be signed.
Speaker 1: Well, it's difficult to stay because we are waiting for
Speaker 1: Hamas to take to take off the table all of
Speaker 1: their threats and we're waiting for their answers. A bad
Speaker 1: deal that was proposed. The negotiation teams are in Qatar.
Speaker 1: It's been like that for a few days now, and
Speaker 1: so we've seen just in recent hours Hamas trying to
Speaker 1: throw the ball towards us. We are on different claims
Speaker 1: that are untrue. The fact is that all the details
Speaker 1: are also accumulated details from a negotiation from August and
Speaker 1: from May. They know all the demands, they were spread
Speaker 1: on the table and we are just waiting for them
Speaker 1: to confirm it and to give us the answers and
Speaker 1: to advance with the process.
Speaker 2: Now, there has been criticism about this deal, isn't the
Speaker 2: best deal that could be struck where so many Palestinian criminals,
Speaker 2: including terrorists, will be released for just reported thirty three
Speaker 2: hostages in the first stage, so not even all of
Speaker 2: the hostages.
Speaker 1: So the first thing is that, look, our government is
Speaker 1: fully committed and we do not give up on any
Speaker 1: but any hostage that is being held in the hell
Speaker 1: of Hamas in their dungeons of torture, and we will
Speaker 1: fight to bring them back up until the last one
Speaker 1: of them. The list of thirty three people that we've
Speaker 1: sent to Hamas that we are still waiting on an answer.
Speaker 1: These are humanitarian cases that are meant to be in
Speaker 1: the first step of release towards the ceasefire. Those are
Speaker 1: little children, babies. You know, Phil Beavs, a little baby
Speaker 1: who was kidnapped when he was nine months old, who
Speaker 1: celebrated his first birthday in Hamas dungeons of torture and
Speaker 1: is about in a few weeks to celebrate his second birthday.
Speaker 2: Terrible Charan, do you think he's still alive? Has a
Speaker 2: mask given any indication to you in these negotiations the
Speaker 2: baby Kafi and Aril are still alive.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, we are expecting that the list that
Speaker 1: we've put through towards Hamas that was published with the
Speaker 1: thirty three humanitarian demands, that most of them are alive.
Speaker 1: We haven't received an answer yet from Hamas, but that
Speaker 1: is our expectation. And that's including two humanitarian cases of
Speaker 1: an Ethiopian citizen, Israeli citizen in a Beduin Muslim citizen
Speaker 1: who are being held in Camask captivity for more than
Speaker 1: ten years that we've been waiting to release them. So Shari,
Speaker 1: we do not give up on any Israeli that is
Speaker 1: in the hands of Hamas, and we will fight to
Speaker 1: bring them back until the end.
Speaker 2: Sure, And I just have to put these criticisms to
Speaker 2: you again. I mean, it's been because this is what
Speaker 2: is being debated in Israel and globally at the moment,
Speaker 2: it's been fifteen months. Israel has succeeded largely against Hamas.
Speaker 2: Humas is on its knees, Its leaders are dead. Trump
Speaker 2: has threatened to unleash hell on Hamas if the hostagees
Speaker 2: aren't released. So why does it still have so much
Speaker 2: power when it comes to these negotiations. You know, why
Speaker 2: can't Israel say we need all of the hostages out
Speaker 2: now and we're not releasing one thousand Palestinian terrorists.
Speaker 1: Well, look, Hamas is not a rational party that you
Speaker 1: negotiate with. Hamas is a terrorist organization that as much
Speaker 1: as it wants to destroy Israel, it will destroy itself,
Speaker 1: murder its people, destroy their economy, destroy everything in the
Speaker 1: way in order to achieve the goal of the destruction
Speaker 1: of Israel. You're not negotiating with the logic or you know,
Speaker 1: someone who share the values that me and you, Sharry
Speaker 1: actually hold. This is a terrorist organization and is willing
Speaker 1: to commit suicide on the way, and that makes it
Speaker 1: very difficult for Israel as well. Look, you know, since December,
Speaker 1: the negotiations were somewhat of fake negotiation because Hamas won't
Speaker 1: even sit around the table, see while forbid and refuse
Speaker 1: to sit around and negotiate no matter what the situation was.
Speaker 1: It is only now since December the Ramas is actually
Speaker 1: even sitting around the table to try and negotiate a deal.
Speaker 1: And this is after we've destroyed most of his Balas capability.
Speaker 1: We are fighting against the hoties. We've give a serious
Speaker 1: hit to Iran, so they understand that their position is
Speaker 1: a very weak position. Is it going to be perfect? No,
Speaker 1: These prices that we're meant to pay our our our
Speaker 1: heartbreaking prices.
Speaker 2: I mean actually not sick understand it to think that
Speaker 2: another at sceining what could be released from Israeli prisons.
Speaker 1: This is these are heartbreaking, a heartbreaking event. You know,
Speaker 1: the options are not good and we we need to
Speaker 1: decide between two bad options. And our decision and our commitment,
Speaker 1: as we said before, is to bring back our family
Speaker 1: members back home as quickly and as safely as possible.
Speaker 1: And yes, unfortunately we will need to pay a serious
Speaker 1: price for it, a heartbreaking one, and my heart goes
Speaker 1: to the families who some of their family members were murdered,
Speaker 1: and they will see a murderous monster being released very high.
Speaker 2: Look, we've only got thirty more seconds. I just quickly
Speaker 2: want to ask you. You know you spoke about how
Speaker 2: Hermas had refused to come to the table.
Speaker 3: They've only come now because of Trump.
Speaker 1: Yes, so you know Trump setting a deadline and a
Speaker 1: red line actually pushed them towards that. The destruction of
Speaker 1: the power of Iran and Chris Bala in combination with
Speaker 1: Trump's declaration definitely push that forward.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, Saren Haskell, thank you very much for
Speaker 2: joining us and answering these difficult questions. I'll see you
Speaker 2: tomorrow at eight. And here's Paul in the man Cave.