WEBVTT - Paul Murray Live | 9 September 0:00:02.440 --> 0:00:07.800 This is Paul Murray Live. You know me very well, Shari. 0:00:07.840 --> 0:00:10.110 Thank you very much. We've got a big show ahead tonight. 0:00:10.140 --> 0:00:12.110 It's fight night when it comes to the debate section 0:00:12.150 --> 0:00:14.790 of this evening's program. I guarantee you're going to love 0:00:14.810 --> 0:00:17.270 the rumble that happens inside the man cave. The wonderful 0:00:17.290 --> 0:00:19.590 Megan Kelly is here, where there's an awful lot of 0:00:19.610 --> 0:00:21.870 stuff happening in the United States. But can we start 0:00:22.790 --> 0:00:26.640 with Anthony Albanese going full Trump? What do I mean? Well, 0:00:26.750 --> 0:00:28.700 as you know, Donald Trump, whenever he doesn't like what 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:31.780 the media reports, what does he say? Fake news. 0:00:31.860 --> 0:00:32.360 Fake news. 0:00:32.560 --> 0:00:36.160 Fake news. Fake news. Well, to the scandal that is 0:00:36.220 --> 0:00:40.300 of the government's own making, half a billion dollars that 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:43.650 just happened to end up in mostly Labor seats. We 0:00:43.670 --> 0:00:47.090 showed you this last night in detail. Centre for Public Integrity, 0:00:47.150 --> 0:00:49.710 this is a non-partisan group. They've whacked libs when they're 0:00:49.750 --> 0:00:51.710 in government just as hard as they're whacking the government. 0:00:52.190 --> 0:00:53.870 And they were able to work out that of the 0:00:53.910 --> 0:00:56.570 half a B4 billion dollars that was put into a 0:00:56.630 --> 0:00:59.470 slush fund, and I say slush fund because it wasn't just, oh, 0:00:59.510 --> 0:01:02.910 here's the community projects. You apply for them, best one wins. No, no, 0:01:03.190 --> 0:01:06.640 you had to be invited to apply. And guess what 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.860 the majority of the result was? And as I showed 0:01:09.880 --> 0:01:13.220 you last night, there is a golf club in regional 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:16.940 Victoria that's full of asbestos, desperately needs a little bit 0:01:16.970 --> 0:01:19.450 of financial help. But when they went to the local MP, 0:01:19.490 --> 0:01:22.750 the local MP says, sorry, you haven't been invited because 0:01:22.890 --> 0:01:26.610 the money's going to the Marrickville Golf Club, of course, 0:01:26.709 --> 0:01:29.790 in the Prime Minister's home electorate. Now, remember, all of 0:01:29.850 --> 0:01:32.630 this was just outrageous when it was the Liberal Party 0:01:32.730 --> 0:01:36.080 and the money was a lot less than Now, remember, 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.819 Bridget McKenzie was in a world of trouble because she 0:01:39.000 --> 0:01:43.330 was a member of a shooting club that got some 0:01:43.350 --> 0:01:45.110 of the money from the then federal government. She was 0:01:45.130 --> 0:01:47.450 the minister at the time. Well, guess who was a 0:01:47.530 --> 0:01:51.630 member of the Marrickville Golf Club? Anthony Albanese. It is 0:01:51.670 --> 0:01:55.230 apparently undeclared, but he was out and about today saying, oh, 0:01:55.290 --> 0:01:57.110 this doesn't matter. I don't really go. It doesn't really 0:01:57.150 --> 0:02:00.660 matter to me. Well, then why are they getting the cash? Anyway, 0:02:01.100 --> 0:02:03.340 he decided to, as I say, go the full Trump 0:02:03.460 --> 0:02:05.920 and he was going the media and didn't the loveys 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.550 love a fight of left on left where he was 0:02:09.610 --> 0:02:12.530 cracking into the ABC who, as I told you last night, 0:02:13.070 --> 0:02:16.470 centred this on the 7.30 program and have been doing 0:02:16.490 --> 0:02:20.830 pretty strong coverage about this all day because it stinks. 0:02:21.370 --> 0:02:25.410 It's half a billion dollars of taxpayers' money spent that 0:02:25.630 --> 0:02:29.520 ends up with the Labor Party in the oh-so-convenient marginal 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:31.600 seats that they either won or want to win at 0:02:31.620 --> 0:02:35.640 the next election. Here he is doing his best orange 0:02:35.660 --> 0:02:36.580 man impersonation. 0:02:36.580 --> 0:02:41.060 15 years ago, someone decided to say, oh, we'll make him. 0:02:41.020 --> 0:02:43.359 An honorary member. I don't have a card. 0:02:44.340 --> 0:02:45.240 I don't go in there. 0:02:45.260 --> 0:02:48.750 I haven't been in there for years. The ABC were 0:02:48.850 --> 0:02:54.060 told this. And the ABCs should do better. Oh! Now, 0:02:54.090 --> 0:02:58.220 of course, the ABC will not turn on the Prime Minister. 0:02:58.280 --> 0:02:59.900 It's just a way of him trying to say, here 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:05.900 I am, being strong to everyone. Remember, the fundamentals here 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:12.109 is how do you feel about a half-billion-dollar fund being invented... 0:03:13.100 --> 0:03:16.040 to advantage the political party of the day that is 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.489 also the government of the day. Now, theoretically, if there 0:03:19.530 --> 0:03:25.470 was $ 500 billion that they decided was for 150 electorates 0:03:25.610 --> 0:03:28.340 around the country for the local MP to be able 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.540 to work out what is the best way of spending 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.420 the money, we'd be having a different chat. But instead, 0:03:34.940 --> 0:03:38.010 we are talking about this And this is a story 0:03:38.050 --> 0:03:40.010 that as much as the Prime Minister and many of 0:03:40.070 --> 0:03:42.630 his media mates would like to minimise it, is not 0:03:42.650 --> 0:03:45.630 going to go away. And ironically, one of the people 0:03:45.670 --> 0:03:48.110 who is prosecuting this is the lady who had to 0:03:48.170 --> 0:03:50.940 give up her job when she was caught in all 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:53.880 of this back in the Liberal government. Bridget McKenzie. 0:03:54.180 --> 0:03:58.160 Trust in our political system is dependent on ministers, governments 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.140 and parliamentarians upholding the highest standards. I would hate to 0:04:02.180 --> 0:04:04.750 think that I am the last minister in this Westminster 0:04:04.790 --> 0:04:09.350 system to actually resign. over a perceived conflict of interest 0:04:09.570 --> 0:04:12.190 and an upholding of the Ministerial Code of Conduct. 0:04:13.010 --> 0:04:15.410 But we know you can lie to Parliament like the 0:04:15.470 --> 0:04:19.000 Finance Minister did, but Albo will look the other way. 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.659 You can behave like Jim Chalmers, there were no problems. 0:04:23.680 --> 0:04:27.520 You can travel wrought, all the accusations here and thereof, 0:04:28.110 --> 0:04:30.870 like an Annika Wells, nothing to see here, no problems. 0:04:31.589 --> 0:04:32.950 We can go through the list. You can be as 0:04:32.990 --> 0:04:34.990 clueless as Claire O'Neill and no, no, no, there'll be 0:04:35.029 --> 0:04:37.250 no admissions of failure, even when it is half a 0:04:37.330 --> 0:04:40.300 billion dollars. And it is not the ABC. It is 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.440 not News 24. It is the Centre for Public Integrity 0:04:43.820 --> 0:04:47.479 that's calling him out. Dennis Shanahan, as always, sharp and 0:04:47.540 --> 0:04:52.870 on point, makes the observation here that Albo's response to 0:04:52.910 --> 0:04:56.469 the story has now turned it into a different story. 0:04:56.550 --> 0:04:59.670 Remember the cover-up always being worse than the crime? Well, 0:04:59.690 --> 0:05:02.580 what are we talking about here? Well, the independents are 0:05:02.620 --> 0:05:04.930 now sinking their teeth into this. Now, of course, are 0:05:04.950 --> 0:05:07.250 they still of the centre-left? If they had to choose, 0:05:07.570 --> 0:05:09.789 who would the government be after the next election? They 0:05:09.810 --> 0:05:12.570 will choose Labor. They will choose Anthony Albanese. This is 0:05:12.610 --> 0:05:15.450 no great bake-up for the left. But this is a 0:05:15.490 --> 0:05:18.980 moment where the so-called integrity people actually have to call 0:05:19.060 --> 0:05:23.360 out the integrity of the government. Monique Ryan asked this 0:05:23.420 --> 0:05:24.840 question in Question Time today. 0:05:26.060 --> 0:05:29.160 Don't you agree that government spending should be based on 0:05:29.220 --> 0:05:32.520 merit and need and should be transparent rather than being 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.589 based on retaining and winning marginal seats? 0:05:36.570 --> 0:05:40.450 The Prime Minister's response. Remember, the new broom, the transparent one, 0:05:40.490 --> 0:05:42.630 the one who wasn't going to do politics like those 0:05:42.850 --> 0:05:43.710 evil Liberals. 0:05:46.350 --> 0:05:51.750 The three projects that are referred to in my electorate, I... 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:56.190 Hesitate to find anyone who would regard them as not 0:05:56.230 --> 0:05:59.390 being worthwhile. Honorary membership, someone made a decision. 0:06:00.089 --> 0:06:01.130 I don't have a card. 0:06:01.190 --> 0:06:03.029 For two years, membership is $ 5. 0:06:02.890 --> 0:06:05.470 We'll get him two years membership. 0:06:06.210 --> 0:06:11.550 For two years! See, again, look over here. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Oh, 0:06:11.830 --> 0:06:13.330 and he plays this game. Remember, he did it with 0:06:13.350 --> 0:06:16.770 the ISIS brides all the time. Very, very clever with 0:06:16.830 --> 0:06:20.970 his language. The point is not about the Maryfield Golf Club. 0:06:21.730 --> 0:06:28.560 The point... is half a billion dollars, $ 400 million of 0:06:28.630 --> 0:06:31.660 which ends up where the Labor Party wants it to go, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.960 supposedly a fund for every part of the country. Hence 0:06:36.020 --> 0:06:41.240 why the difference of $ 409 million to $ 120 million to 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:48.070 $ 23 million matters. Now, David Pocock is making the most 0:06:48.110 --> 0:06:52.420 of this, as he rightly should, in the Senate today. Now, 0:06:53.060 --> 0:06:58.520 what about this? Yesterday, he decided to ask about this. 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.230 The Minister for Finance, Katie Gallagher, yes, one of the 0:07:02.260 --> 0:07:04.520 mean girls, the one who lied to the Parliament when 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:07.050 it came to her knowledge in and around all allegations 0:07:07.510 --> 0:07:11.130 way back when about what may have happened in an 0:07:11.210 --> 0:07:17.570 office under the former Liberal government. You get the whole story, right? Well, 0:07:18.310 --> 0:07:22.160 she as the Finance Minister is in charge, essentially, of 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:25.550 how federal government money is spent by the federal bureaucracy. 0:07:25.580 --> 0:07:29.070 So she would be very much across this process. And 0:07:29.110 --> 0:07:31.890 generally speaking, monies that are supposed to be to the 0:07:31.930 --> 0:07:35.810 benefit of community projects should be to communities everywhere, not 0:07:35.830 --> 0:07:38.750 just ones that have a Labor or might get a 0:07:38.830 --> 0:07:42.710 Labor MP. So he, of course, asks the question. This 0:07:42.770 --> 0:07:46.810 is what he posted on social media. And unbelievably, when 0:07:46.870 --> 0:07:50.100 she asks for receipts... And he tries to put them 0:07:50.160 --> 0:07:53.300 on the table. Guess what the Labor Party didn't want 0:07:53.420 --> 0:07:54.080 to see? 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.700 So the minister says this isn't pork barrelling. We haven't 0:07:57.740 --> 0:08:00.740 targeted marginal seats. And then the report that shows that 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:03.160 nearly half the money that the government made in election 0:08:03.180 --> 0:08:06.380 commitments went to marginal seats. When I try to table that, 0:08:06.620 --> 0:08:07.490 the government says no. 0:08:07.850 --> 0:08:09.030 You can't table the evidence. 0:08:10.030 --> 0:08:12.870 Labor Party that said in opposition that the coalition were 0:08:12.890 --> 0:08:15.050 pork barrelling. They get into the hot seat and they're 0:08:15.070 --> 0:08:17.240 doing the exact same thing. It does not cut it. 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:19.080 We have to do better as a country and we 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.920 deserve better as a country. We should have governments that 0:08:22.020 --> 0:08:24.880 make election commitments that are based on need, not based 0:08:24.980 --> 0:08:26.520 on the seats that they want to win or the 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.090 seats that they want to hold. This is damaging our democracy. 0:08:30.450 --> 0:08:33.630 And then when he tried to table the very report 0:08:33.670 --> 0:08:35.470 that did not come from the ABC, that did not 0:08:35.530 --> 0:08:38.620 come from News 24, that did not come from a 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.339 super sleuth on the internet, instead from, and I repeat, 0:08:41.640 --> 0:08:45.980 the Centre for Public Integrity, the non-partisan group that has 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:47.500 given it to the Libs just as hard as they 0:08:47.540 --> 0:08:50.400 have now given it to Labor, guess what the government did? 0:08:50.420 --> 0:08:54.270 They used their numbers to say, no, you can't table 0:08:54.650 --> 0:08:58.910 the very report that is the receipt. I'm going to 0:08:58.929 --> 0:09:03.369 show it to you for the third time. $ 400 million 0:09:03.470 --> 0:09:07.929 magically ends up in the Labor Party pot. Everyone else, look, 0:09:07.929 --> 0:09:10.429 $ 100 million isn't bad for the coalition, but are you 0:09:10.490 --> 0:09:13.880 kidding me? Now, normally, at this time of the night, 0:09:13.929 --> 0:09:16.360 I'm ripping and tearing about how the 6pm news lets 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.079 you down. It didn't tonight. And a reporter that I 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:24.100 have been plenty critical of for plenty of time actually... 0:09:24.260 --> 0:09:28.710 saw this for what it was. Andrew Proban on Channel 9. 0:09:28.710 --> 0:09:31.130 This is how he is explaining. Now, of course, he 0:09:31.150 --> 0:09:33.050 has to find a way to make it seem like 0:09:33.110 --> 0:09:35.310 both sides are as bad as each other. Remember, this 0:09:35.370 --> 0:09:39.590 is more money and an even more bent process, but still, 0:09:40.370 --> 0:09:44.090 this is what they finally talked about on the 6pm 0:09:44.130 --> 0:09:45.209 news tonight. 0:09:46.500 --> 0:09:50.360 Whereas the sports rort scandal involved a selection process that 0:09:50.380 --> 0:09:55.099 was corrupted by politics... Labor's infrastructure grants program seemed to 0:09:55.140 --> 0:09:59.090 have no process at all except to curry political favour. 0:09:59.620 --> 0:10:04.199 Sports rots was pork barrelling by deception. This is pork 0:10:04.260 --> 0:10:05.540 barrelling by design. 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.770 So one of the ways that political scandals live on 0:10:09.910 --> 0:10:13.319 is what name you end up giving them. Now, whether 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.620 this is going to be Albo's pork barrelling, Albo's barrel 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.840 of pork, whether it's going to be Labor's slush fund, 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:21.710 I don't know. If you have suggestions, please send me 0:10:21.730 --> 0:10:26.890 an email, paul at news24. com. au, paul at news24. com. au. But it's 0:10:26.910 --> 0:10:30.030 yet another example about this government taking the piss with 0:10:30.150 --> 0:10:36.160 other people's money, half a billion dollars. They had to 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:40.120 demand the head when it was of a political opposite, 0:10:40.140 --> 0:10:43.660 but when it is them, it's fake news. Pay attention. 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.599 This is about the overall picture, because as soon as 0:10:46.620 --> 0:10:50.000 you argue about the Marrickville Golf Club, well, he's going 0:10:50.020 --> 0:10:52.300 to go off and pretend that this is just a 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.470 very small matter. It ain't. It's half a bee for 0:10:54.510 --> 0:10:58.950 billion dollars. And where does this money come from? Well, 0:10:59.010 --> 0:11:01.470 I think we all know the good people of Australia. 0:11:01.530 --> 0:11:04.390 The single largest source of government revenue at the federal 0:11:04.410 --> 0:11:08.160 level comes out of people's pay packet. Not company tax, 0:11:08.179 --> 0:11:11.599 not the GST. Of course, at the state level, if 0:11:11.620 --> 0:11:13.480 you buy and sell things, you end up paying things 0:11:13.540 --> 0:11:16.380 like a stamp duty. If you run a business, you've 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:20.040 got things like payroll tax. Well, are we all sitting down? 0:11:21.340 --> 0:11:22.990 Because one of the reasons why the government thinks they 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.390 can get away with spending half a billion dollars in 0:11:25.429 --> 0:11:29.910 this fashion is because government's tax take is up 60% 0:11:29.910 --> 0:11:35.969 since COVID, 60%. Now, they're going to argue, well, we 0:11:35.990 --> 0:11:37.540 were sort of a four-fifths of bugger off for a 0:11:37.580 --> 0:11:39.740 couple of years there, so this is all just false. 0:11:40.040 --> 0:11:43.819 Let me show this to you. Australia's combined annual federal, state, 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:50.189 local government tax take has leapt 61% since COVID to 0:11:50.190 --> 0:11:56.250 $ 893. 4 billion. Stamp duties, payroll tax, company tax skyrocketing more 0:11:56.290 --> 0:11:59.390 than double the rate of GDP growth, according to the 0:11:59.410 --> 0:12:05.100 official figures. Jim Chalmers... gets a forecast from Treasury to 0:12:05.120 --> 0:12:09.079 become Australia's biggest income-taxing Treasurer with a share of GDP 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:12.460 of 18.6% this financial year. He's got more money than 0:12:12.580 --> 0:12:15.179 ever before, yet he's still running a deficit and they 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:18.540 still have to invent new ways to claw money back 0:12:18.620 --> 0:12:21.600 because they need to create slush funds like what we're 0:12:21.620 --> 0:12:24.460 talking about here. In fact, let me show you this. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.780 In terms of taxation revenue, federal, state, local government, you see, 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:34.660 the years 19 and 20, the year before pandemic. The 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:39.440 two after, well, what's happened since? Through the roof. And 0:12:39.460 --> 0:12:42.589 that is just the taxation. Once we throw in the 0:12:42.870 --> 0:12:46.030 payroll tax, the stamp duty tax, the goods and services tax, 0:12:46.370 --> 0:12:49.350 look what's happened. Now, yes, has there been an awful 0:12:49.370 --> 0:12:51.490 lot more people that have come to the country, about 0:12:51.490 --> 0:12:56.640 1.4 million since this government came in? Sure. But are 0:12:56.679 --> 0:13:00.179 they making the most of bracket creep? Are they finding 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:03.969 new ways to tax you? You betcha. So no wonder. 0:13:04.530 --> 0:13:07.210 They've got more money than ever before, yet they think 0:13:07.290 --> 0:13:11.780 no accountability about how they spend it. This is red hot, 0:13:12.140 --> 0:13:14.240 whether they like it or not, whether they like the 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.559 news source that talks about it or not, or whether 0:13:19.160 --> 0:13:21.530 it's going to be a pain in their backside for 0:13:21.550 --> 0:13:24.280 a little while. It should be. It's a disgrace. I 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:27.220 hope that the Tiffany Teals, that the independents keep the 0:13:27.260 --> 0:13:29.520 fight up about it. I hope that this is not 0:13:29.580 --> 0:13:32.870 just a box-ticking exercise from the normally compliant media to say, 0:13:33.070 --> 0:13:35.350 here's the one example where we held them to account. 0:13:35.790 --> 0:13:39.850 Do it again tomorrow. Do it again tomorrow. The likelihood, 0:13:39.870 --> 0:13:42.760 of course, is most likely they won't, but still, we'll 0:13:42.780 --> 0:13:45.920 keep on it. Oh, and while the government has more 0:13:45.940 --> 0:13:49.290 money than ever before, finding new ways of spending it, 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:54.459 including completely unaccountable ways like the rort that's happening right now, 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:55.980 I'll come up with a good name, and when we do, 0:13:56.080 --> 0:14:00.559 we'll stick with it. Guess what? Despite some signs of 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.280 economic slowdown, the Reserve Bank looks like it will increase 0:14:03.380 --> 0:14:07.240 interest rates again. So, yes, the great working public that 0:14:07.300 --> 0:14:09.560 is paying more tax than ever before, that is the 0:14:09.580 --> 0:14:13.370 biggest source of revenue to the government... whose biggest asset 0:14:13.410 --> 0:14:16.069 is their house, whose bill has gone up 15 times 0:14:16.110 --> 0:14:19.800 since this government came to office, get ready to pay 0:14:20.060 --> 0:14:24.260 more again. But nothing to see here, nothing to see here. 0:14:25.300 --> 0:14:30.340 Flag burning is a culture war and letting people take 0:14:30.340 --> 0:14:34.660 $ 2, 500 of their own superannuation will somehow ruin everyone's retirement. 0:14:35.540 --> 0:14:39.750 This government and the way they are swimming in cash 0:14:40.760 --> 0:14:45.980 Yet spending it for purely political reasons, purely political reasons, 0:14:46.380 --> 0:14:48.380 is something we could take a couple of days to 0:14:48.420 --> 0:14:51.610 talk about. Let's see whether ADD kicks in and the 0:14:51.630 --> 0:14:55.230 news agenda moves on or people can follow the money 0:14:56.150 --> 0:14:58.710 because there's too much of it being misspent. But it's 0:14:58.750 --> 0:15:04.310 other people's money, so they don't care. The future of 0:15:04.350 --> 0:15:06.510 the country is, of course, being played out in our 0:15:06.590 --> 0:15:08.830 schools each and every day. Are they too far to 0:15:08.870 --> 0:15:12.800 the left? Yes. But this is not about that. I 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.580 have told you for years about one of the biggest 0:15:15.620 --> 0:15:19.600 problems in Australian classrooms, which is discipline in the classrooms. 0:15:19.980 --> 0:15:22.990 And every time, because there'll be somebody watching, I was 0:15:23.010 --> 0:15:24.610 a horror of a kid. I got sent out plenty. 0:15:24.630 --> 0:15:27.090 I got suspended a couple of times. Mine is not 0:15:27.370 --> 0:15:31.150 a great school behaviour story. Which is perhaps why I 0:15:31.730 --> 0:15:35.210 feel guilty as the kid who mucked up about what 0:15:35.290 --> 0:15:37.840 I did to all of the kids around me because 0:15:39.180 --> 0:15:42.830 I was... carrying on like a two bob watch well 0:15:42.850 --> 0:15:47.110 yet again today we have an example of just how 0:15:47.170 --> 0:15:51.830 poorly australian classrooms are being controlled 30 years after i 0:15:51.870 --> 0:15:56.050 left high school yes i know but also academic performance 0:15:56.670 --> 0:15:59.620 hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent by state 0:15:59.630 --> 0:16:03.520 and federal governments to so-called improve our education well take 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.720 a look does this look like an improving education system 0:16:07.510 --> 0:16:09.570 When it comes to science, yes, there's been a little 0:16:09.590 --> 0:16:12.090 bit of a blip up. But when it comes to reading, 0:16:12.610 --> 0:16:16.100 down in 20 years. When it comes to maths, down 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:20.720 in 20 years. And I think part of this is 0:16:20.780 --> 0:16:26.300 because we have lost control of the classroom. Now, long 0:16:26.340 --> 0:16:29.180 gone are the days of the cane, rightly so. But 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.380 even when I was acting up like a two-bob watch, 0:16:31.660 --> 0:16:33.520 I wasn't able to do it for very long because 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:35.760 any and every teacher would boot you out of the 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:37.800 room and if it kept going on, you'd be off 0:16:37.820 --> 0:16:40.680 to the principal, you'd get suspended, and no matter what 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:43.600 bitching and moaning I gave to my parents, they doubled 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.210 down on the punishment of the school because that's the 0:16:46.250 --> 0:16:49.790 way it's supposed to work. But nowadays, that is not 0:16:49.850 --> 0:16:52.830 the way that it works. The reality is, is that 0:16:53.150 --> 0:16:55.870 too many parents are too soft on their kids and 0:16:55.890 --> 0:16:58.710 they back their kids in... to be too out of 0:16:58.730 --> 0:17:02.110 control with teachers who they seek to punish whenever the 0:17:02.150 --> 0:17:05.109 teachers try to discipline the classroom. And again, I'm not 0:17:05.150 --> 0:17:08.070 talking about six of the best. I'm saying to Johnny 0:17:08.330 --> 0:17:12.389 and Julie, shut up. Again, let's have a look at 0:17:12.450 --> 0:17:16.360 global standards and how Australia compares. This is a first 0:17:16.390 --> 0:17:19.020 world country with hundreds of billions of dollars, but we 0:17:19.060 --> 0:17:23.280 have lost the fight for discipline. Noise and disorder. We 0:17:23.460 --> 0:17:29.200 are well and truly above the international average. When it 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:35.150 comes to spend more than two hours daily on screens, Australia, 0:17:35.609 --> 0:17:37.870 in a world of pain because we are spending more 0:17:37.890 --> 0:17:41.390 time on the screens, reports that students do not listen 0:17:41.410 --> 0:17:44.830 to what a teacher has said in all science lessons, 0:17:45.030 --> 0:17:47.750 we're worse than the rest of the world, has skipped 0:17:47.770 --> 0:17:50.369 at least one day of school in the past two weeks. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:53.580 Look at that number at the bottom. If all of 0:17:53.600 --> 0:17:55.979 that information, just look at the bit at the bottom. 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:57.719 Why? 0:17:57.740 --> 0:18:02.800 Why? Because they're sick? Because they're anxious? Maybe. Because they're 0:18:02.840 --> 0:18:07.800 wagging or they're taking the piss? Probably. This doesn't cost money. 0:18:09.020 --> 0:18:14.679 We have chosen discussion over discipline. We have chosen the 0:18:15.990 --> 0:18:21.490 rights of the child over the stability of the classroom 0:18:21.609 --> 0:18:25.630 at a wider level. Now, I get very frustrated with 0:18:25.730 --> 0:18:29.129 much of the political ideology of much of our education system, 0:18:29.369 --> 0:18:36.550 but I have maximum, maximum empathy for teachers who are 0:18:36.590 --> 0:18:39.889 having to deal with kids who are not disciplined at 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:43.139 home and they have virtually no power to discipline them 0:18:43.180 --> 0:18:47.159 at school. And what do you learn at school? At 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.320 a certain point in time, you start to notice what 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:53.560 everyone else can get away with and then you start 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:58.220 to go, Well, what's the point in playing along? This 0:18:58.260 --> 0:19:02.369 doesn't take money. This takes resolve. Now, there are teachers 0:19:02.590 --> 0:19:06.490 who work in incredibly disruptive areas who have been able 0:19:06.510 --> 0:19:10.690 to crack this nut. The state education ministers at every 0:19:10.730 --> 0:19:13.910 level and the federal should be talking to them. How 0:19:13.950 --> 0:19:15.840 do you do it? How can we do it more? 0:19:16.940 --> 0:19:19.679 For all of our looking to the international community on 0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:22.440 so many other issues, could we start to look at 0:19:22.460 --> 0:19:25.590 it when it comes to education? Could we go and 0:19:25.650 --> 0:19:29.420 find the head of the Singaporean education system and get 0:19:29.460 --> 0:19:30.980 them just to sit up the back of the average 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:34.840 class in suburban Australia and then have a look at 0:19:34.859 --> 0:19:39.040 their suggestions of how we run a classroom? We are 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.390 failing our kids and the kids end up failing the tests, 0:19:42.730 --> 0:19:46.050 which means they are not starting life at their optimum. 0:19:47.070 --> 0:19:50.429 We have taken a world that used to be school 0:19:50.470 --> 0:19:54.139 was the microcosm of the greater world, where there were 0:19:54.300 --> 0:19:57.679 authority figures, where there was a punishment to be afraid of. 0:19:59.000 --> 0:20:01.119 When you got caught doing something wrong, that was the 0:20:01.220 --> 0:20:06.380 end of the conversation, and instead we've turned it upside down. 0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.669 Those kids, of course, become adults. Those adults have their 0:20:09.730 --> 0:20:13.210 own kids and the problem goes down the toot. If 0:20:13.250 --> 0:20:17.040 you're a teacher with ideas, send the emails, okay? Paul 0:20:17.060 --> 0:20:23.699 at news24. com. au. Paul at news24. com. au. Now, let's talk about these 0:20:23.740 --> 0:20:25.919 social media laws which are on their way because I've 0:20:25.940 --> 0:20:28.179 got to say, on the face of it, do I 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:30.590 have a problem with Australians being able to have a 0:20:30.670 --> 0:20:33.210 button to decide that if they're on Instagram, all you 0:20:33.250 --> 0:20:36.190 see are the people you follow or a button that says, ah, 0:20:36.230 --> 0:20:37.630 show me some of the other stuff on the internet. 0:20:37.930 --> 0:20:40.730 I don't really have a problem with that. But as always, 0:20:40.850 --> 0:20:42.889 there's devil in the detail. And the devil in the 0:20:42.930 --> 0:20:46.700 detail here is a very specific power which the government 0:20:46.740 --> 0:20:49.080 wants to give itself to be able to go after 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:53.080 the things it doesn't like on the internet. Sarah Henderson 0:20:53.200 --> 0:20:56.780 is the shadow communications minister. She joins us now from Canberra. 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:58.909 Let's get to the overall in a second. Lovely to 0:20:58.940 --> 0:21:02.210 see you, Senator. Let's talk about what is inside the 0:21:02.250 --> 0:21:05.270 bill here and what is the power the minister wants 0:21:05.330 --> 0:21:06.570 to give herself here. 0:21:09.180 --> 0:21:11.270 Well, Paul, great to join you this evening. 0:21:12.010 --> 0:21:15.670 We all want to see online harms and very serious 0:21:15.930 --> 0:21:20.060 online harms not exposed at all, particularly to children. We 0:21:20.140 --> 0:21:25.400 want tougher action to empower parents. But this proposed digital 0:21:25.460 --> 0:21:31.840 duty of care law is extremely dangerous because it gives 0:21:31.900 --> 0:21:37.619 the minister unfettered powers to make regulations without parliamentary oversight 0:21:38.090 --> 0:21:42.070 in relation to categories of harm or serious harm. So 0:21:42.109 --> 0:21:46.550 that means that the minister could make a decision, again, 0:21:46.609 --> 0:21:50.909 without parliamentary oversight, about any material that she thinks is 0:21:51.690 --> 0:21:54.889 is not appropriate or, in the case of children, harmful 0:21:54.930 --> 0:22:00.129 to children. So just imagine material denying the existence of 0:22:00.250 --> 0:22:06.180 climate change or questioning gender ideology. It is really quite 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.060 frightening because there are no guardrails, there are no safeguards, 0:22:10.540 --> 0:22:13.240 and that's why this is a very, very significant threat 0:22:13.280 --> 0:22:13.939 to free speech. 0:22:14.080 --> 0:22:16.510 But also, why does she need the power? Because, theoretically, 0:22:16.550 --> 0:22:18.970 kids have been banned from these platforms. 0:22:20.290 --> 0:22:21.510 Well, that's exactly right. 0:22:22.550 --> 0:22:25.629 She needs these very wide powers, as she would say, 0:22:26.470 --> 0:22:30.120 because the social media ban is not working. It, of course, 0:22:30.300 --> 0:22:35.460 only relates to social media platforms. That's been a disaster. Yes, 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:38.260 there was all the right intent, which we also backed, 0:22:38.660 --> 0:22:44.240 but it's been very poorly designed. It's been very badly implemented. And, 0:22:44.300 --> 0:22:47.970 of course, there's very high rates of noncompliance. So this 0:22:48.070 --> 0:22:52.170 is just another example of Annika Wells rushing legislation into 0:22:52.210 --> 0:22:55.409 this parliament, not doing the hard work. And, of course, 0:22:55.890 --> 0:22:59.010 we know that this is a Trojan horse, Paul. We 0:22:59.070 --> 0:23:03.170 saw what happened with the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill. That 0:23:03.270 --> 0:23:08.949 was a very, very scary way of regulating Australians' online speech, 0:23:09.150 --> 0:23:12.130 and this is take two all over again. 0:23:12.690 --> 0:23:15.859 So the reason why I always get very nervous about 0:23:16.300 --> 0:23:22.399 individual power sitting with a specific minister is because at 0:23:22.460 --> 0:23:24.890 some point in time, it is going to be somebody 0:23:24.930 --> 0:23:29.490