Speaker 1: Why on Sky News This is Sharry.
Speaker 2: Good Evening tonight, Why jd Vance jeopardized Trump's peace plan
Speaker 2: for his own future White House run Plus Zelenski ignoring
Speaker 2: warnings before the meeting not to take the bait. All
Speaker 2: of this in a moment, and I'm going to be
Speaker 2: joined live on set by Ukraine's ambassador to Australia. Also
Speaker 2: on the show, a Green's pro Palestinian candidate has been
Speaker 2: invited into a school where it's claimed she lectured children about.
Speaker 3: The so called genocide in Gaza.
Speaker 2: Well, why are Green's politicians saying these dangerous things to
Speaker 2: school children in the classroom? This outrageous story coming up,
Speaker 2: And former RBA governor Philip Blow says interest rates are
Speaker 2: not the reason for the cost of living crisis. This
Speaker 2: rare intervention just days from the election campaign. But first tonight,
Speaker 2: let's talk about the dramatic scenes in the Oval Office
Speaker 2: on Friday. Now, the media is trying to turn this
Speaker 2: into a question of Donald Trump abandoning his allies, and
Speaker 2: they're asking if Australia needs to be worried.
Speaker 3: But that's not what's unfolding here.
Speaker 2: There is no suggestion at all that Trump is abandoning
Speaker 2: America's leadership role, particularly in our region in the Pacific.
Speaker 2: This is a simplistic take that's not based in reality.
Speaker 2: The reality is Trump was trying to end the Russian
Speaker 2: invasion of Ukraine, and his mission, which is very personal
Speaker 2: to his own legacy as president, was then derailed by
Speaker 2: both jd Vance and Zelenski himself. Jd Vance has a
Speaker 2: dangerous isolationist view of the world and didn't hold back
Speaker 2: from insulting Zelenski, while the Ukrainian president has now three
Speaker 2: times refused to sign the minerals deal that everyone understands
Speaker 2: is the gateway to an American security agreement.
Speaker 3: Now. One of Donald.
Speaker 2: Trump's central campaign pledges was to end the Ukraine Russia war.
Speaker 2: He says his role currently as one of a mediator
Speaker 2: trying to broke a piece in a war that he
Speaker 2: believes never should have started.
Speaker 4: Well, if I didn't align myself with both of them,
Speaker 4: you'd never have a deal. He wants me to say
Speaker 4: really terrible things about Putin and then say, Hi, Vladimir,
Speaker 4: how are we doing on the deal. That doesn't work
Speaker 4: that way. I'm not aligned with Putin. I'm not aligned
Speaker 4: with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America.
Speaker 2: We all know Russia is a murderous dictatorship. It kills
Speaker 2: more journalists than anywhere else in the world. It poisons
Speaker 2: to death its enemies, its critics, and its political rivals unsuspectingly.
Speaker 2: It does this no matter which country therein. It has
Speaker 2: totalitarian rule that has no freedom of speech or freedom
Speaker 2: of the press. Russia works hand in glove with Iran,
Speaker 2: which has an active plot against Trump and is currently
Speaker 2: planning to assassinate him. Russia also invaded Ukraine unprovoked.
Speaker 3: That is a fact.
Speaker 2: Now Trump knows all of this about Russia, but as
Speaker 2: he says, his aim now is to end the war.
Speaker 2: So Trump is engaging in his version of diplomacy by
Speaker 2: not launching a tirade against Vladimir Putin. This is a
Speaker 2: deliberate tactic, and it's one that Secretary of State Marco
Speaker 2: Rubio supports. Rubio has in the past card Putin a
Speaker 2: war criminal and a butcher is both of those things.
Speaker 2: But Rubio isn't repeating those criticisms while he's trying to
Speaker 2: extract achieve extractions from Russia at the negotiating table.
Speaker 5: I'm not going to fall into this trap. Of the
Speaker 5: who's bad and who's evil. People can make those conclusions.
Speaker 5: People have seen how this narrative has played out and
Speaker 5: where we are today and how this.
Speaker 6: All started and so forth.
Speaker 5: The point now is it has to end. And the
Speaker 5: way it ends is you get people to a negotiating table.
Speaker 5: And the president, who's the ultimate deal maker, knows you
Speaker 5: don't get people to a negotiating table when you're calling
Speaker 5: them names and you're accusing them of things. Because at
Speaker 5: the end of the day, this is not a political campaign, okay,
Speaker 5: this is high stakes international diplomacy and an effort to
Speaker 5: bring about an end to a very very dangerous war.
Speaker 2: Now, you can agree or disagree with the tactic, it
Speaker 2: is the one Trump has chosen as he tries to
Speaker 2: end the war and bring about peace. He wants to
Speaker 2: show Russia that he's acting as an impartial mediator. And
Speaker 2: we don't doubt that Trump does want peace. He doesn't
Speaker 2: want this to escalate into World War IIIE, he doesn't
Speaker 2: want more lives lost or more costs to Americans. And
Speaker 2: for his own benefit or his own ego, he certainly
Speaker 2: wants to be the president that ends the war.
Speaker 4: You're gambling with the lives of millions of people seeing
Speaker 4: you're gambling with world War three. You're gambling with world
Speaker 4: War three.
Speaker 2: Now, Trump could have calmed the situation down in the Oval.
Speaker 3: Office, absolutely, but very clearly.
Speaker 2: The two problem figures here are jd Vance and Zelenski himself. Now,
Speaker 2: first to Zelenski, Zelensky.
Speaker 3: Is a war hero.
Speaker 2: He's been bravely defending his country since it was invaded
Speaker 2: by Russia. But he also mishandled this meeting, and he
Speaker 2: hasn't signed the minerals deal. This is now or that
Speaker 2: meeting on Friday was now the third occasion that we
Speaker 2: know of where Zelenski has refused to sign the minerals deal,
Speaker 2: and it's not clear what his concerns are with the
Speaker 2: deal or why he isn't signing it. The Minerals Deal
Speaker 2: is seen by many as a back door for an
Speaker 2: American security agreement, a gateway for American presence in Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Maco Rubio again Secretary of State, and he's morally rock solid.
Speaker 3: He's said as much publicly.
Speaker 5: They also understand that this agreement that was supposed to
Speaker 5: be signed today was supposed to be an agreement that
Speaker 5: binds America economically to Ukraine, which to me, as I've explained,
Speaker 5: I think the President alluded to today is a security guarantee
Speaker 5: in its own way, because we're involved, it's now us,
Speaker 5: it's our interests. That was all explained, that was all understood,
Speaker 5: and nonetheless, for the last ten days, in every engagement
Speaker 5: we've had with the Ukrainians, there's been complications in getting
Speaker 5: that point across, including the public statements that President Zelensky
Speaker 5: has made. But they insisted on coming to DC. This
Speaker 5: agreement could have been signed five days ago, but they
Speaker 5: insisted on coming to Washington, and there was a very
Speaker 5: and should have been a very clear understanding, don't come
Speaker 5: here and create a such scenario where you're going to
Speaker 5: start lecturing us about how diplomacy isn't going to work.
Speaker 5: As President Zelenski took it in that direction, and it
Speaker 5: ended in a predictable outcome as a result. It's unfortunate
Speaker 5: that one's supposed to be this way, but that's the
Speaker 5: path he chose, and I think, frankly, you know country
Speaker 5: backwards in regards to achieving peace.
Speaker 2: The White House Oval Office meeting was meant to be
Speaker 2: about signing the minerals deal, not realticating an argument that
Speaker 2: a diplomatic solution can't work. Now, Marco Rubio is a
Speaker 2: strong supporter of Ukraine, but he's now questioning Zelenski's aim.
Speaker 2: He's asking why Zelenski undermined the first step of a
Speaker 2: peace deal, and he basically accused Lelensky.
Speaker 3: Of self sabotage.
Speaker 5: So you start to perceive that maybe Zelensky doesn't want
Speaker 5: a peace deal. He says he does, but maybe he doesn't.
Speaker 5: And that active, open undermining of efforts to bring about
Speaker 5: peace is deeply frustrating for everyone who's been involved in
Speaker 5: communications with them leading up to today.
Speaker 2: Now that mention there of communications ahead of the meeting
Speaker 2: on Friday, it seems that Zelensky did the precise opposite
Speaker 2: of what Trump's advisors suggested to him. We've seen reports
Speaker 2: that US senators warned Zelensky not to be emotional or
Speaker 2: confrontational with Trump in the meeting. One of them, Lindsey Graham,
Speaker 2: told the New York Times, and I'm quoting, don't take
Speaker 2: the bait I said, and he's saying, he said to Zelenski,
Speaker 2: don't get into arguments about security agreements. Well, instead, it
Speaker 2: could be argued that Zelensky did the exact opposite. Lindsey Graham, again,
Speaker 2: one of Ukraine's greatest supporters, is now saying that the
Speaker 2: president should resign.
Speaker 7: What I saw in the Oval office was disrespectful, and
Speaker 7: I don't know if we can ever do business with
Speaker 7: Zolensky again, I don't. I think most Americans saw a
Speaker 7: guy that they would not want to go in business with.
Speaker 7: The way he handled the meeting, the way he confronted
Speaker 7: the President was just over the top. He either needs
Speaker 7: to resign and send somebody over.
Speaker 3: That we can do business with, or he needs to change.
Speaker 2: Now that call for Zelenski to resign is clearly over
Speaker 2: the top unacceptable. No leader could have done more for
Speaker 2: their people to defend their people when it's during war,
Speaker 2: when their country is under siege. Now, Zelenski's argument, though,
Speaker 2: that he doesn't trust Putin not to break a ceasefire deal,
Speaker 2: those are legitimate concerns, But does that mean that he
Speaker 2: doesn't want to sit down at the negotiating table at all?
Speaker 2: And if he's concerned about Putin not abiding by Trump's deal,
Speaker 2: then he could have raised this with the President privately
Speaker 2: rather than in front of the world's media. And there
Speaker 2: was a twenty minute bilateral meeting before the press cameras
Speaker 2: were called into the oval, but it's been reported Zelenski
Speaker 2: didn't raise his concerns then. Now, it's also worth keeping
Speaker 2: in mind the backstory. Yeah, Trump has viewed Zelenski, rightly
Speaker 2: or wrongly, as too close to Joe Biden and the Democrats.
Speaker 2: And this goes back to Hunter Biden's involvement in that
Speaker 2: energy company in Ukraine. As you may recall, there was
Speaker 2: a vote to impeach Trump after claims he was trying
Speaker 2: to pressure Zelenski to order an investigation into Hunter Biden. Now,
Speaker 2: Zelensky did publicly say that he was not pressured by Trump.
Speaker 2: The New York Post then reports today that Ukraine hasn't
Speaker 2: been a friend to the US either, voting against its
Speaker 2: strategic instrates strategic interests at the United Nations. And that's including,
Speaker 2: by the way, on Israel, despite Zelenski himself being Jewish.
Speaker 3: But let's turn to JD.
Speaker 2: Vance now, because what we saw from the Vice President
Speaker 2: was someone who was clearly a childish agitator and aggressor,
Speaker 2: and he poses a major problem going forward. In fact,
Speaker 2: in my view, JD. Vance should never have been made
Speaker 2: Vice President. This debacle has exposed JD. Vance as not
Speaker 2: up to the job of VP or a future president,
Speaker 2: and that's a role he's trying to position himself for.
Speaker 2: He was the one who was hot headed and grew
Speaker 2: aggressive first. As you can see here.
Speaker 8: What kind of diplomacy ggus became involved.
Speaker 2: What do you what do you mean?
Speaker 9: I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to
Speaker 9: end the destruction of your country. But mister President, mister President,
Speaker 9: with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come
Speaker 9: into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in
Speaker 9: front of the American media. Right now, you guys are
Speaker 9: going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because
Speaker 9: you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president
Speaker 9: for to bring it into this conflict.
Speaker 3: JD.
Speaker 2: Vance shouldn't even have been in that meeting given his
Speaker 2: past comments on Ukraine, comments like.
Speaker 10: This, We've spent two hundred billion dollars on Ukraine. You
Speaker 10: know what I wish Zelensky would do when he comes
Speaker 10: to the United States of America, say thank you to
Speaker 10: the people of Pennsylvania and everybody else.
Speaker 2: Now, Vance's very presence would have been antagonistic to Zelenski
Speaker 2: with Vance in that meeting, there was always a high
Speaker 2: risk that it would escalate into hostility, and Trump would
Speaker 2: have every reason to be pretty unhappy with the way
Speaker 2: Vance performed in the Oval and how he derailed the
Speaker 2: minerals deal. Vance didn't think twice about openly attacking a
Speaker 2: leader who is more heroic than he'll ever be, who
Speaker 2: stood up against a well funded murderist dictatorship, attacking his
Speaker 2: far smaller country, who has had to fight a war
Speaker 2: on two fronts, getting allies to support him while in
Speaker 2: combat against Russia on the front line as well. If
Speaker 2: Ukraine was led by anyone with less courage and conviction,
Speaker 2: that it may very well be Russian territory by now,
Speaker 2: as many predicted it would be at the start.
Speaker 3: And JD.
Speaker 2: Vance's suggestion that Zelensky was ungrateful is simply not supported
Speaker 2: by the facts. Look at just how many times and
Speaker 2: more than this, the Ukrainian later has expressed his gratitude.
Speaker 8: Thank you for booth financial texages you have already provided
Speaker 8: us brilliantly. All my appreciations from my heart for the
Speaker 8: heart of Ukrainians, all Ukraine.
Speaker 1: So what can I say to American people in English.
Speaker 8: My English is poor to see all my messages and
Speaker 8: all my thanks to you, and thank you very much
Speaker 8: for supporting us our people.
Speaker 3: Thank you United States, Thank you America.
Speaker 9: Ukraine is grateful to the United States for it's overwhelming support.
Speaker 3: But when JD.
Speaker 2: Vance continually accuses Zelensky of being ungrateful, he's doing that
Speaker 2: deliberately to paint a picture of Ukraine as sponging off
Speaker 2: America for one hundred and seventy five billion dollars in
Speaker 2: US funding. The isolationist Magabase feed off this, and there
Speaker 2: are horrible racist calls for Zelensky to leave America and
Speaker 2: they call him antisemitic names that I won't repeat.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: Vance was clearly playing to the MAGA audience to try
Speaker 2: and win support for his own future run for the presidency,
Speaker 2: and in doing this, he's jeopardizing Trump's current term in
Speaker 2: office and Trump's stated goals. This won't be the last
Speaker 2: time Vance derails Trump's agenda for his own egotistical and
Speaker 2: selfish political agenda. Now, today we saw European leaders come
Speaker 2: in to save the day, with France, Germany and the
Speaker 2: UK to form a coalition of the Willing, and it's
Speaker 2: one of course that. Anthony Albanezi jumped on board, saying
Speaker 2: he'd support we.
Speaker 11: Will continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as
Speaker 11: it takes, because this is the struggle of a democratic
Speaker 11: nation versus an authoritarian regime.
Speaker 2: Now, of course a coalition of the willing is great,
Speaker 2: but where the hell have the European leaders been for
Speaker 2: the past three years that Ukraine has been fighting Russia.
Speaker 3: They've been missing in action.
Speaker 2: Now, Peter Dutton today welcomed Europe finally stepping up so
Speaker 2: that it's not only left to the United States to
Speaker 2: defend every country globally.
Speaker 12: The European nations, particularly the bigger nations, can't continue to
Speaker 12: rely for financial support or military support from the United States.
Speaker 12: They need to chip in themselves. And I think President
Speaker 12: Trump's made this clear. It is forty fifth present in
Speaker 12: the forty as now newly elected as well. The United
Speaker 12: States has an incredibly important role to play in the world,
Speaker 12: but it can't be everywhere at once, and I think
Speaker 12: it's important for Europe to step up. It seems that
Speaker 12: that's what's happening at the moment.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were far too slow, and they've only stepped
Speaker 2: in now in response to Donald Trump. Now There are
Speaker 2: a lot of different views on what unfolded in the
Speaker 2: over office, pages and pages of analysis in the media,
Speaker 2: but one thing is for certain. Ukraine deserves the West's support,
Speaker 2: and so does President Zelenski. The fight against Russia isn't
Speaker 2: just one for Ukraine but for all.
Speaker 3: Of Western civilization.
Speaker 2: If Russia is successful in this war, then it won't stop,
Speaker 2: It'll be emboldened. And Ukraine deserves an outcome where its
Speaker 2: sovereignty is respected. All right, and i'd like to invite
Speaker 2: now welcome to this studio, Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, Vassal Murashenko.
Speaker 3: Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 13: Good evening.
Speaker 3: Now, this argument from.
Speaker 2: Selenski is that he needs security guarantees. But he was
Speaker 2: in the White House to sign the mineral's agreement. It's
Speaker 2: been presented to him at least three times.
Speaker 3: Why hasn't he signed it.
Speaker 13: I think we just have to look at a broader
Speaker 13: picture because one of the elements which has been discussed,
Speaker 13: as we've seen in the videos, was a ceasefire, and
Speaker 13: for Ukraine to commit to a ceasefire, we need to
Speaker 13: have those security guarantees. As you know, Russia invaded Ukraine
Speaker 13: in twenty fourteen. We signed a ceasefire with Russia in
Speaker 13: twenty fifteen. After that, Russia has violated twenty five times
Speaker 13: and broke the ceasfire deal, including many of those times
Speaker 13: on Trump's watch when he was a president. So we
Speaker 13: don't really trust Russia. More so. We have given up
Speaker 13: the third largest stock paller of nuclear weapons in nineteen
Speaker 13: ninety four in exchange for security guarantees from Russia, u As, Britain,
Speaker 13: France and China, so that we get assurances that our
Speaker 13: waters will be always like they were in those days.
Speaker 13: And everybody who signed the deal have not delivered on
Speaker 13: the deal because Russians came back and they destroyed us
Speaker 13: in twenty fourteen, got emboldened by the very weak reaction
Speaker 13: of the global community, and they came back eight years later.
Speaker 13: It was a mission to destroy ukraine sovereignty.
Speaker 2: Despite this understandable distrust of Russia, isn't it worth going
Speaker 2: to the negotiating table?
Speaker 3: How else does the war end?
Speaker 13: We want this war end more than anybody else, but
Speaker 13: for that to happen. That was a concept which was
Speaker 13: offered by President Trump. Its peace through strengths and we
Speaker 13: need to demonstrate unity because security in Europe depends on
Speaker 13: American commitment. It's a backbone and the badrock of that
Speaker 13: is Native and it was actually those countries and the
Speaker 13: leadership of American leadership of BA and to create a
Speaker 13: coalition of countries in support of Ukraine have enabled Ukraine
Speaker 13: to defend herself and we are extremely grateful for that.
Speaker 13: Australia has contributed and chipped in with military equipment and
Speaker 13: other financial assistants. But to end this war, we have
Speaker 13: to be strong and for us to make sure that
Speaker 13: Russians don't come back, we need to have some serious guarantees.
Speaker 13: And let me just explain to you. Critical deal is fine,
Speaker 13: it's pretty negotiated and I'm sure it will be signed.
Speaker 13: I hope to be signed, that it will be signed soon.
Speaker 3: It could have been signed on Friday, five days before that.
Speaker 13: But it was not the problem. It's not the problem.
Speaker 13: The critic bills is not a problem because at the
Speaker 13: end of the day, how can we get investors to
Speaker 13: commit into the development of critical minerals if Ukraine does
Speaker 13: not have security guarantees, If Russians can come back four
Speaker 13: years later destroy what's been done, or capture what's has
Speaker 13: been developed, and it's a cornerstone for any rebuilt and
Speaker 13: reconstruction in Ukraine, because no private cap is going to
Speaker 13: come to Ukraine if we don't have security guarantees, because
Speaker 13: there is no guarantee that Russians will not come back.
Speaker 13: And they've done it already once in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 13: and they will come back later. They just need time
Speaker 13: to restore recipply and regroup and mount another attack. So
Speaker 13: for Ukrainians it's existential to have a security guarantee and
Speaker 13: the most viable option is to become a NATO member.
Speaker 13: If we can't become native member, now we should build
Speaker 13: NATO in Ukraine. Strong military, strong strategic strategic conventional weapons
Speaker 13: on the territory of Ukraine, which would be you know,
Speaker 13: non nuclear, but which serve as a deterrent air defense systems,
Speaker 13: long branch missiles, a presence of a navy of a
Speaker 13: native country in the Black Sea. There must be a
Speaker 13: deterrent or boots on the ground, as British and French
Speaker 13: are now discussing potentially as for that. And this is
Speaker 13: how we can then get the investors, including American investors,
Speaker 13: to come into critical minerals. As you know here in Australia,
Speaker 13: development of any minerals takes years. We're talking about at
Speaker 13: least two decades that needs to take place before we
Speaker 13: can have any revenue from those resources. But in that
Speaker 13: time we need to make sure that that area is protected,
Speaker 13: that we have the security guarantees to develop them.
Speaker 2: The meeting in the Oval, though, was meant to be
Speaker 2: about the minerals deal, So if there were concerns about
Speaker 2: the security guarantees, shouldn't that have been raised prior instead
Speaker 2: of having that argument in front of the media, which
Speaker 2: ended up being this embarrassing spectacle for all involved.
Speaker 13: I'm not across all the agenda which was out there
Speaker 13: because my mandate is Australia and New Zealand. This is
Speaker 13: what I'm responsible for, So i cannot comment on the
Speaker 13: approach and strategy of what had to be discussed there
Speaker 13: and at what sequence. But I'm giving you the official
Speaker 13: position of the country of what needs to happen when
Speaker 13: and criticalous mineral deals was actually something that Ukraine has
Speaker 13: offered to America. That was our part of our victory plan.
Speaker 13: The President Zelenski announced at the end of September, and
Speaker 13: he brought it to America. President Trump liked it, but
Speaker 13: they worked on the tax. It took us two weeks
Speaker 13: to develop the tax. Everybody was happy with that, and
Speaker 13: that was a discussion, and of course it's very unfortunate
Speaker 13: of what we've seen what happened, But nevertheless, American commitment
Speaker 13: to security in Europe is essential, and European Union is
Speaker 13: the largest donor of Ukraine.
Speaker 3: One hundred and.
Speaker 13: Thirty eight billion years was provided to Ukraine by the
Speaker 13: European Union, only then followed by the United States. So
Speaker 13: even if you look at the top five countries who
Speaker 13: supported Ukraine, four of them are European. America is still
Speaker 13: at number one in terms as an individual country. Other
Speaker 13: individual Germany is number two, followed by Britain, followed by Netherlands,
Speaker 13: followed by France. So we see these countries which are
Speaker 13: European countries. Of course they need to spend more money
Speaker 13: on defense, and I think that was part of the
Speaker 13: discussions that we've seen in London. We'll probably see more
Speaker 13: of that on Thursday when Georgia Moloney will be hosting
Speaker 13: a summit. But at the end of the day, security
Speaker 13: in Europe depends in America. Security in into Pacific depends
Speaker 13: on the US leadership, and therefore we are all in
Speaker 13: the same board with Australia to make sure that America
Speaker 13: stays committed to its security guarantees globally.
Speaker 2: Well, given what you've just outlined about how American investment
Speaker 2: is by far higher than any other country, then do
Speaker 2: you think, and this is what the critics have said,
Speaker 2: that Zelenski should have been more respectful when he was
Speaker 2: in the Oval office, that he shouldn't have taken the
Speaker 2: bait and engaged in an argument with the President of
Speaker 2: the United States.
Speaker 13: President Zelenski as a wartime leader, and you cannot really
Speaker 13: learn to be a wartime leader. And he was offered
Speaker 13: a write in exchange and he said, I don't want
Speaker 13: to write. I need ammunition. And he was fighting, and
Speaker 13: he demonstrated that he can fight and community he was fighting.
Speaker 2: That he set back Ukraine's interests with America by having
Speaker 2: that public argument with the president.
Speaker 13: And that was a commitment that US government has put
Speaker 13: on the signature of the Buddapest Memorandum. That was a
Speaker 13: security guarantee that was provided in nineteen ninety four by
Speaker 13: the President of the United States of America who asked
Speaker 13: US to give up those nuclear weapons. That was part
Speaker 13: of the deal. We also destroyed our strategic aircraft which
Speaker 13: carries some strategic bombents which were also destroyed and dismantal
Speaker 13: and that was part of the deal which happened in
Speaker 13: nineteen ninety four. So we now have countries supporting us
Speaker 13: because they put their signature there and I think we
Speaker 13: had an agreement and that was an agreement that was
Speaker 13: in place. So what the Landski is currently doing, the
Speaker 13: Landski is protecting Europe and protecting the free world because
Speaker 13: we understand how that will further involved in putin how
Speaker 13: it can embold in other authoritarian leaders. Because if a
Speaker 13: global power, which is a nuclear country, which is a
Speaker 13: permanent member of the United Nation Security Council, can change
Speaker 13: borders by a force, what kind of world does it
Speaker 13: leave for Australia. Were the security of New Zealand going
Speaker 13: to be what's going to happen to Japan? If not
Speaker 13: Korea is going to get nuclear weapons? Now we all
Speaker 13: understand and that nuclear non proliferation is that because now
Speaker 13: can you see that probably nuclear weapons is on the
Speaker 13: solution and this is what we are seeing. We gave
Speaker 13: it up voluntarily and we got invaded, we got destroyed,
Speaker 13: Our people get killed on the daily basis. You can
Speaker 13: imagine how many people were watching that video from the
Speaker 13: Oval Office, including all those are the frontlines, including all
Speaker 13: those displays, all.
Speaker 3: The families, are all those saving us their lives. I
Speaker 3: just want to ask you.
Speaker 2: We're out of time, but I just want to ask
Speaker 2: you one final question about Australia. Now, there are sanctions
Speaker 2: on Russia, and yet Australia remains one of the world's
Speaker 2: largest imports of oil based Russian products, and this is
Speaker 2: via third Much of this is via third countries like India.
Speaker 2: It's been described as a legal loophole. What is your
Speaker 2: comment on our Prime Minister standing up expressing support for Ukraine,
Speaker 2: but yet at the same time helping to fund the
Speaker 2: war by importing, by being one of the world's largest
Speaker 2: importers of Russian based oil products.
Speaker 13: I'm personally thankful to Preman austral Albanizi for his support.
Speaker 13: I'm also thankful personally to the Leader of Opposition Peter
Speaker 13: Dutton for the statements and support provided today. Support for
Speaker 13: Ukraine is bipartisan and we of course ask Australia to
Speaker 13: continue supporting us to impose more sanctions, and of course
Speaker 13: the issue of oil needs to be addressed. It's all
Speaker 13: about the terms of trade and wto definition of the
Speaker 13: country of origin, because if the product changes and it's
Speaker 13: already processed in India or Singapore, the country of origin
Speaker 13: becomes disappoints you. It's not looks. These are the terms
Speaker 13: of the World Trade Organization. This is how it works.
Speaker 13: We want that to be addressed and if this is
Speaker 13: this could be addressed by the Australian government will certainly
Speaker 13: welcome that. But this is just the legal matter which
Speaker 13: is out there. But of course we can use the
Speaker 13: frozen Russian assets. Nobody has to pay for other security.
Speaker 13: Three hundred billion Russian assets, most of them are in Europe.
Speaker 13: We should use it money to buy weapons for Ukraine,
Speaker 13: in America, in Australia, in Europe, to fund Ukraine. Nobody
Speaker 13: has to pay for our security. We should use Russian
Speaker 13: that they have to pay for what they've done in Ukraine.
Speaker 2: Ambassador, really appreciate your time, thanks for having it.
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: All right, let's turn now to this shocking story in
Speaker 2: the Courier Mail in Brisbane today that Green's candidate visited
Speaker 2: a school to speak about the suffering in Gaza and
Speaker 2: other content that was far from balanced. She even spoke
Speaker 2: about genocide in Gaza. Reportedly, this is the Greens candidate
Speaker 2: Rama Naj. She's running for the federal seat of Morton.
Speaker 2: It's currently held by retiring Labor MP Graham Perrot and
Speaker 2: the career Male reports that following her address, which was
Speaker 2: two years four to twelve boys, Naj, who was flanked
Speaker 2: by Green's MP Michael Berkman, encouraged other Brisbane schools wanting
Speaker 2: students to feel empowered to take action on genocide, to
Speaker 2: arrange for her to visit Yes Genocide. Parents were reportedly
Speaker 2: and understandably furious the Green's politicians shouldn't be visiting schools
Speaker 2: at all and children shouldn't be given dangerous one sided
Speaker 2: views on the war in the Middle East.
Speaker 3: I mean, do you think she spoke about her muss
Speaker 3: or the hostages.
Speaker 2: Ambrose Tracy College Principal Chris Ryan told The Courier Mail
Speaker 2: that the college sought assurances about the speaker's focus and content,
Speaker 2: which were accepted by the speaker. Unfortunately, the college believes
Speaker 2: that those assurances were not fully upheld. In hindsight, the
Speaker 2: college says it erred in inviting her to speak. All right,
Speaker 2: let's bring in now tonight's panel, Sky News host Steve
Speaker 2: Price and contributed Joe Hildebrand.
Speaker 3: Welcome to you both, Steve.
Speaker 2: Why is a Greens politician, a candidate going into schools
Speaker 2: to speak to children about genocide in Gaza.
Speaker 14: Well, I don't think politicians of any party should be
Speaker 14: going into schools, particularly in the heat of an election campaign,
Speaker 14: which you're about to start. But this is even worse,
Speaker 14: and the state education ministers and the state premiers right
Speaker 14: around the country should use this as an example to
Speaker 14: say to their department we do not want political speeches
Speaker 14: being made in schools. I mean, for goodness sake, year
Speaker 14: four to twelve year olds. I mean seriously, I mean
Speaker 14: this just should not happen. And whatever state immediately says, okay,
Speaker 14: we're not having any politicians in any schools during any
Speaker 14: election campaign. It's not on stay away. Then I think
Speaker 14: that would be a good thing.
Speaker 2: Joe, this is highly inappropriate by any measure.
Speaker 3: I mean schools.
Speaker 2: We don't need the hatred of the Middle East brought
Speaker 2: to schools. We don't need school children brainwashed via Greens ideology.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it seems pretty insane to me, and I can't
Speaker 6: imagine that it would ever happen at a state school.
Speaker 6: The protocols they have for visitors to state school, and
Speaker 6: I know having done lots of stories on them and
Speaker 6: being one of those privilege few to get access, are
Speaker 6: incredibly tight and you have to have an incredibly high
Speaker 6: level of trust and assurances about what you are going
Speaker 6: and going to do and say when you're there. I
Speaker 6: do not see why any political candidate should be at
Speaker 6: any school, and I understand that this is an independent
Speaker 6: Catholic school, but I do not understand why, you know,
Speaker 6: maybe the local MP, the local councilor the mayor, the
Speaker 6: Prime Minister if he's in town or whatever. Of course
Speaker 6: there's a reason for official representatives to be at a school,
Speaker 6: but why you would allow a local political candidate, especially
Speaker 6: one from an extreme party like the Greens, and especially
Speaker 6: on an issue as incredibly contested and volatile and high
Speaker 6: octane as the war on pastime and the idea that
Speaker 6: you would you would think that you know, all.
Speaker 2: Assurances would be met Palestine war on is that.
Speaker 6: But the point is that this is something as you
Speaker 6: just demonstrate, this is something that is incredibly highly contested,
Speaker 6: and the idea that you would put your trust in
Speaker 6: a Greens candidate to present a fair and impartial and
Speaker 6: balanced account of it to a bunch of impressionable students.
Speaker 6: I mean, that is a level of naivy I don't
Speaker 6: think I've ever seen in the education system before.
Speaker 3: Insane.
Speaker 2: Way, just as well, you're not speaking to school students
Speaker 2: as well, Joe, there.
Speaker 6: Was there was a war in Palestine, but anyway, yes, still.
Speaker 2: Former RBA governor Philip Blow has come out today the
Speaker 2: front page of The Australian and said that interest rates
Speaker 2: are not the main reason for the cost of living crisis.
Speaker 2: He says that interest rates have probably suppressed aggregate demand
Speaker 2: by one percent this year. The lack of productivity growth
Speaker 2: over that time has suppressed demand now by nine percent.
Speaker 2: So he's therefore saying that sluggish productivity growth, Steve Price,
Speaker 2: which is in the government's control, that that is the
Speaker 2: source of the issue.
Speaker 3: Steve.
Speaker 2: This is a rare intervention from the former RBA governor
Speaker 2: just days away from an election campaign being caught.
Speaker 14: Yeah, very odd and I wonder what Michelle bull It
Speaker 14: makes of it when you think about it, because I mean,
Speaker 14: Philip Lowe is now outside the Reserve Bank. His comments
Speaker 14: about productivity are absolutely correct, and inflation is as well
Speaker 14: as now being driven by infrastructure spending by the States
Speaker 14: and the federal government. I mean, and what we've seen
Speaker 14: so far, Shari, in this fake collection campaign, both sides
Speaker 14: are determined to throw huge amounts of money at their
Speaker 14: favorite projects. That's just going to add to inflation. But
Speaker 14: I think most Australians have a basic understanding of economics
Speaker 14: would be surprised that Lowe says, oh, well, interest rates
Speaker 14: have had nothing to do with inflation. I think that's
Speaker 14: not the story we've been being told over the last
Speaker 14: ten or eleven or twelve interest rate rises. So I'm
Speaker 14: not sure what point he's trying to make here, and
Speaker 14: I don't think it'll be welcomed by just about anybody.
Speaker 2: There's no question that the cost of living crisis is
Speaker 2: the biggest issue in the election campaign.
Speaker 3: Well it will be in the election campaign. We've seen polls.
Speaker 2: Today that Albanezer can't rely and the traditionally safe labor
Speaker 2: seat of state of Victoria, this is the Redbridge Accent.
Speaker 2: Data found that the government could lose up to eight
Speaker 2: seats to the coalition in Victoria alone, Joe, this is
Speaker 2: labor heartland. So and yet this is looking like it
Speaker 2: could be the worst state for Albanezi.
Speaker 3: What do you put this down to.
Speaker 6: Yeah, well, it's sort of only labor heartland because it
Speaker 6: became so kind of indoctrinated by the Dan Andrews one
Speaker 6: party state. I think Andrew's famously just recently said, you know,
Speaker 6: in Victoria, there are a few haters and everyone else
Speaker 6: votes for labor and that's fine by me. So that
Speaker 6: gives you an indication of the way that that entire
Speaker 6: state was just comprehensively overtaken by the labor left. The
Speaker 6: labor left took it over from the Liberal Party, and
Speaker 6: they also took it over from the labor right. And
Speaker 6: now the scales are falling back from Victorian's eyes, the
Speaker 6: disasters that the government has presided over, the mistruths, and
Speaker 6: the clearly misleading promises it made in the last ditch
Speaker 6: election to get Dan Andrews a third time. He's now
Speaker 6: left the building, just Sinta Allen has left holding this
Speaker 6: kind of flaming binfire. And that's what overwhelmingly is making
Speaker 6: Victoria so difficult for Anthony Albanezi and yes, it is
Speaker 6: a worry that seats like Karrangamite or Hawk that should
Speaker 6: be labor seats potentially at risk. There's at least three
Speaker 6: or four seats that probably should never have been Labour's
Speaker 6: either and will almost certainly go Aston, will probably go
Speaker 6: back Chisholm mcure and you know, the Eastern suburbs lot.
Speaker 6: But again it's still a pretty tight run thing. That
Speaker 6: same Pole found overall among those twenty marginal seats, the
Speaker 6: margin between the Coalition and Labor actually titan from fifty
Speaker 6: two to forty eight to fifty point five to forty
Speaker 6: nine point five, and that was after the rate rise
Speaker 6: and the big Medicare announcement. So it's not all doom
Speaker 6: and gloom. But yes, Victoria is definitely the most troublesome state.
Speaker 2: Doom and gloom for you, of course, Joan, not for everyone, Steve,
Speaker 2: You're in Victoria. And by the way, I was just
Speaker 2: in Melbourne over the weekend. In your view, because we
Speaker 2: just heard from Joe, they're you know, kind of blaming
Speaker 2: state government issues. But what do you think is making
Speaker 2: voters angry towards the Albanese government.
Speaker 14: Well, the labor brand here is completely toxic. We saw
Speaker 14: that Wearriby by election. There was a massive swing. No
Speaker 14: it didn't all go to the Liberals, but it was
Speaker 14: against labor. So the labor brand, whether it's federal or state,
Speaker 14: is really on the nose in Victoria. The Australian newspapers
Speaker 14: reporting tonight, Damon Johnson saying that he's been told that
Speaker 14: during the election campaign, which we expect the PM to
Speaker 14: call Sunday for April twelve, that they're going to hide
Speaker 14: Jacinder Allen the Premier. There's going to be very few
Speaker 14: appearances by those two, as opposed to when Anthony Albanezi
Speaker 14: goes to South Australia will be closing up to Peter
Speaker 14: Malinowskis Chris Min's in New South Wales, so onllly up
Speaker 14: Roger Cook in WA. But I don't think, and you know,
Speaker 14: I could be wrong on this, but don't expect to
Speaker 14: see too many nice cozy camera shots of Anthony Albanezi.
Speaker 14: Would just Sindra Allen because Jesus disliked as much as
Speaker 14: what Daniel Andrews is in this state.
Speaker 2: Yeah, indeed, all right, Steve Price, Jo hude Brand, thank
Speaker 2: you so much.
Speaker 14: For you tank guys.
Speaker 2: Now still to come Donald Trump's invitation to a severely
Speaker 2: starved former hostage to visit the White House. After this
Speaker 2: emotional interview, plus the revelation that Albanezi has appointed a
Speaker 2: pro Palestinian activist to run his campaign, I'll talk about
Speaker 2: that with Cameron Milner after this quick break.
Speaker 3: Welcome back.
Speaker 2: As I mentioned, we are probably just days away from
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister calling the federal election campaign to discuss
Speaker 2: this and more. I'm joined by former Chief of Staff
Speaker 2: to Bill Shorton and former Queensland State Labor Director Cameron Milner.
Speaker 3: Great to see you.
Speaker 2: Likewise, now I want to have a look at this
Speaker 2: story that was in the Daily Mail by Peter van
Speaker 2: Onsl on the weekend that Labour's new election campaign communications
Speaker 2: director Adam Gartrell Well Here was an advisor to Tony
Speaker 2: Burke and now he's been pointed to this senior role
Speaker 2: running the Prime Minister's federal election campaign.
Speaker 3: And he has previously posted a photograph of himself in
Speaker 3: a KFE year which will show you now so you.
Speaker 2: Know, clearly ready to lead Labour's campaigning strategy.
Speaker 15: Cameron well and he's also Tony Burke's deputy chief of
Speaker 15: staff as well, so a little surprise they're given Burke's
Speaker 15: views on Israel, Burke's views on Gaza, that his deputy
Speaker 15: chief of staff would be this of extreme and think
Speaker 15: that having a kefair and playing some hamas cosplay was
Speaker 15: somehow funny or amusing. These people will have to communicate
Speaker 15: the Australian public exactly these views, and that's who's fronting
Speaker 15: the campaign that I think voters will have a very
Speaker 15: dim view of Alberts and his campaign come whenever that
Speaker 15: election is going to be.
Speaker 2: I mean, the more you look into the advisors around
Speaker 2: the Prime Minister, it just makes sense why they've taken.
Speaker 3: The attitude that they taken on this issue. Now Albiniz,
Speaker 3: he is doing more and more soft interviews.
Speaker 2: We saw him on sixty minutes what I did and
Speaker 2: I did, But he was on sixty minutes last night
Speaker 2: speaking yet again about his romance in his private life.
Speaker 3: If we've got that clip, let's have a quick look.
Speaker 11: I think you've been through a lot Pam personally and
Speaker 11: to find happiness.
Speaker 13: Did you think you would like this?
Speaker 11: NAF And I wasn't looking for a relationship, Jody yelled
Speaker 11: out up the rabbit os is how we met when
Speaker 11: I went round the table.
Speaker 1: That's how easy you were. You had me up the rabbits.
Speaker 2: We should get that on the shirt. I mean Cameron,
Speaker 2: he prefers these soft interviews. He likes going on the
Speaker 2: FM stations. He's not going to sit down with someone
Speaker 2: who will ask him the tough questions.
Speaker 15: No, he won't. He likes the soft puff pieces. I
Speaker 15: mean that's what he's about. I mean, he's after soft
Speaker 15: options because he's a WEEK leader. At the end of
Speaker 15: the day, I remember the day of the RBA cut
Speaker 15: interstrates by point twenty five percent and gave people some
Speaker 15: small relief. He announced the day of his wedding nuptsheals.
Speaker 15: I mean, this is a guy who would rather talk
Speaker 15: about soft issues than the hard issues and the real
Speaker 15: issues like cost of living.
Speaker 2: And voters are starting to see that. That what's coming
Speaker 2: across in research on both sides, I'm told is the
Speaker 2: word weakness.
Speaker 3: He's being seen as a WEEK leader.
Speaker 2: He's not up to the job on national security or
Speaker 2: when it comes to protecting Australia's sovereignty.
Speaker 15: That's right, and it's not just on the issues we've
Speaker 15: got around Israel and Gaza, where we see protests on
Speaker 15: our national streets, terrible things like what happened to the
Speaker 15: opera house where he couldn't stand up for Astralians and
Speaker 15: he was so weak in his response, so his response
Speaker 15: to China last week and the like. So no, that
Speaker 15: weakness is certainly coming through the polling, because that's what
Speaker 15: Albo projects. He's a week leader.
Speaker 2: Looking at the demographics, how do you think younger voters
Speaker 2: are looking for this election?
Speaker 3: Where do you think their sentiments are at the moment.
Speaker 15: I think it's a fascinating question because the voting role
Speaker 15: grows every single election. So we've got about seventeen at
Speaker 15: nine million voters eligible. Seven point eight of them are
Speaker 15: either millennials or Gen zs. So as the role grows,
Speaker 15: just proportionately, younger people are a large and larger percentage
Speaker 15: of that, and they're looking for social media and other
Speaker 15: media platforms. We're talking mainstream media right now, Shari, but
Speaker 15: certainly in terms of social media and the ability to
Speaker 15: respond and be part of the conversation. I think change
Speaker 15: is the way political campaigns.
Speaker 2: Will operate, and especially when a lot of politicians are
Speaker 2: turning to TikTok. Definitely not on TikTok, but they're turning
Speaker 2: that's why you see these supposedly serious ministers doing these
Speaker 2: ridiculous videos.
Speaker 15: You do, and I mean, you know, back in twenty
Speaker 15: twenty two it might have been the enger Deen mackers,
Speaker 15: that was the Scott Morris issue, and there's Peggys this
Speaker 15: time round. I understand it myself, but there's all that
Speaker 15: stuff that's going on in the social media sense as well.
Speaker 15: So I think the politicians are dealing with a very
Speaker 15: different level of communications when it comes to younger people
Speaker 15: and younger voters and certainly talking through social media.
Speaker 2: Look some of the issues we've been talking about tonight.
Speaker 2: Of course, cost of living is absolutely the major issue.
Speaker 2: Do you think that one interest rate cut do you
Speaker 2: think the government has managed to sell the message that
Speaker 2: it means the crisis is over?
Speaker 15: Regrettably not because people actually are living through it, where
Speaker 15: they're paying rent to where they're paying a mortgage, where
Speaker 15: they're a young person, struggling to make grocery mills, bills meat,
Speaker 15: They're all under that cost of living pressure. And regrettably,
Speaker 15: even though point two five was a great piece of relief,
Speaker 15: it's not enough to change the political dial in.
Speaker 2: My view, or a tiny piece of relief given that
Speaker 2: people have had thirteen interes straight cuts.
Speaker 3: Very true, shark. Yes, but yes, And you think the
Speaker 3: election is going to be followed this Sunday.
Speaker 15: Well, the cyclone in Queensland is really bad and it
Speaker 15: might actually cross the coastline route around Brisbane or the
Speaker 15: Suntone coast. And you know, Albanie doesn't like Queenslanders and
Speaker 15: Queenslanders don't like Albow. But that would be a terrible
Speaker 15: thing to do, in the aftermath of a cyclone hitting
Speaker 15: a huge urban area, to call election on Sunday so.
Speaker 3: It could push it back fire.
Speaker 15: I think I can think it'd be blowing sideways by
Speaker 15: the cyclone.
Speaker 3: All right, thank you very much, thank you for being here.
Speaker 2: Still to come Trump's invitation to a severely starved hostage
Speaker 2: to visit him in the White House, plus the disgrace
Speaker 2: of Guy Pierce at the oscars that's coming up after
Speaker 2: this quick break. Well, Eli Sharabi was kidnapped on October
Speaker 2: seven and held by terrorists for more than five hundred days.
Speaker 2: Before his final release. He spoke to Israeli media about
Speaker 2: his unimaginable ordeal.
Speaker 1: Exactly lor Bley, I tell mamages.
Speaker 2: It was so horrific. What he went on to speak
Speaker 2: about as well. As a result of that very emotional interview,
Speaker 2: Donald Trump has now invited Ali to the White House,
Speaker 2: yet another example of his steadfast commitment to Israel. Let's
Speaker 2: bring in our Sky News contributor, Kosher Gata Kosher. This
Speaker 2: is an incredible and Trump didn't just invite Ali, but
Speaker 2: any of the recently returned hostages as well. This is
Speaker 2: such an important show of support.
Speaker 16: It is it's very meaningful Shari, because the one issue
Speaker 16: in this conflict, which has certainly suffered from not having
Speaker 16: consensus globally, as you know better than anybody discussing this
Speaker 16: for now such a long period of time, five hundred
Speaker 16: plus days, the one issue that completely has consensus is
Speaker 16: getting the hostages out and the plate that they have
Speaker 16: had to suffer, and just the humanitarian aspect of it.
Speaker 16: And in this busy news cycle that we live in,
Speaker 16: where everything is pushed off the front page within minutes,
Speaker 16: people forget about it. Sadly, I hate to say it,
Speaker 16: but that's just true. And when Trump goes and does
Speaker 16: something like this, it elevates it to the forefront again.
Speaker 16: We of course have the tragedy of the Beavers Boys
Speaker 16: that brought it back, and I think those things do
Speaker 16: matter to refocus the world on just the tragedy and
Speaker 16: atrocity that's still happening there.
Speaker 2: At the Oscars today, Guy Pierce as straighting an actor.
Speaker 2: He was nominated for his role in a movie about
Speaker 2: the Holocaust, but he still turned up wearing a pin
Speaker 2: supporting free Palestine. Only saving grace is that he didn't
Speaker 2: win the Best Supporting Actor Kosher.
Speaker 3: This is disgraceful, isn't it.
Speaker 16: He clearly felt, you know, he starred in this role
Speaker 16: and he felt like he had to somehow distance himself
Speaker 16: from the themes of the role that he started and
Speaker 16: acted in. Look, I think the macro picture is the
Speaker 16: Oscars are just more and more irrelevant. Ratings are going
Speaker 16: down all the time, excuse me, year on year, and
Speaker 16: that's just a reflection of the fact that these folks
Speaker 16: are no longer as culturally relevant as they might have
Speaker 16: been in Hollywood's golden era. So I think that's the
Speaker 16: other soul list in this that nobody's really paying attention
Speaker 16: to them. That said, it is a platform for signaling
Speaker 16: whatever position someone wants to take politically. He has done that,
Speaker 16: and I think he as do all actors pay the
Speaker 16: price with that where people just want them to zip it,
Speaker 16: do what they do well, act, entertain us and maintain
Speaker 16: some mystique rather than projecting your political opinions, especially for
Speaker 16: contentious issues like these.
Speaker 3: Goosha very quickly.
Speaker 2: The tariff deadline is looming looking less and less likely.
Speaker 2: Isn't it that albo is going to get an exemption?
Speaker 16: Seems to be now anything is possible in a twelve
Speaker 16: odd days or so that we have left, But there
Speaker 16: doesn't seem to be any urgency or sort of that
Speaker 16: they've gotten any quick wins or any sort of a
Speaker 16: signal from Team Trump about some sort of exemption, and
Speaker 16: it doesn't sound like they're inclined to do so because
Speaker 16: Trump is going much more aggressively at leveling the playing field,
Speaker 16: including with allies where we may be running a surplus
Speaker 16: in Australia. So I do think it's quite possible that
Speaker 16: this is going to hit all.
Speaker 2: Right, Kashgatta, thank you so much for joining us, And
Speaker 2: after the break we'll return to that explosive White House
Speaker 2: press conference and what it means Fizzelenski's leadership back in
Speaker 2: a moment. Welcome back, well for more analysis on the
Speaker 2: Oval Office meeting. Let's bring in now the executive director
Speaker 2: of ASPY, Justin Bassi. Justin, thank you for your time.
Speaker 2: Look what's your view about the European leadership, how they
Speaker 2: finally stepped in today, but they've basically been missing an action.
Speaker 17: It's great you with you, Shari. I think it's fair
Speaker 17: to say that since the end of the Cold War,
Speaker 17: many countries, including those major countries in Europe, didn't invest
Speaker 17: in enough in defense and didn't invest in military deterrence.
Speaker 17: And we've seen the outcome, the outcome being Russia and
Speaker 17: Putin thinking they could do whatever they want. But you're right.
Speaker 17: Today or Sunday in London, we saw what looks like
Speaker 17: an excellent meeting and all credit to Prime Minister Starma
Speaker 17: for gathering European leaders and they've said all the right things.
Speaker 17: They've said they fully support Ukraine, they'll fight, they will
Speaker 17: support Ukraine until the end of the fight is determined
Speaker 17: by Ukraine and Stana saying that once peace is found,
Speaker 17: peace is achieved a lasting piece, they'll be willing to
Speaker 17: back the deal in with the UK boots on the ground.
Speaker 17: So these are excellent things to say. We've now got
Speaker 17: to see them in action.
Speaker 3: Do you think JD.
Speaker 2: Vance, the Vice President, and his isolationist attitude, is going
Speaker 2: to be a problem moving forward.
Speaker 17: I think there's no doubt that we have a shift
Speaker 17: with the new US administration. They have made it clear
Speaker 17: that they do not like being taken advantage of. They
Speaker 17: feel that they've been taken an advantage of over the last
Speaker 17: few decades, and unfortunately for US, they are not separating
Speaker 17: friends from foes well enough publicly. The issue for countries
Speaker 17: like Australia, though Shari, is to ensure that we join
Speaker 17: in the support for Ukraine, not just by supporting Ukraine
Speaker 17: as a sovereign country, which it is and which is vital,
Speaker 17: but that we as an ally of the US, as
Speaker 17: a member of the Five Eyes, as a members of
Speaker 17: the Quad, as a member of Orcus, are saying to
Speaker 17: our American friends that an America withdrawn from Europe doesn't
Speaker 17: make America safer and doesn't make this region safer, even
Speaker 17: if the American resources come from Europe and a spent
Speaker 17: all on China that will not serve our security interests.
Speaker 17: We need in America that sticks with its friends and
Speaker 17: allies in Europe to ensure that this region in the
Speaker 17: Indo Pacific knows that the US will stick with.
Speaker 2: US, and that's one of the issues China could be
Speaker 2: looking at this. I mean, one of the deterrents from
Speaker 2: China invading or reunifying with Taiwan has been America. But
Speaker 2: China could look at this and think, well, America might
Speaker 2: not come to Taiwan's eight.
Speaker 17: There's absolutely no doubt that China is watching. China has
Speaker 17: been watching since before the war started. They have formed
Speaker 17: their no limits partnership with Russia. China is the main
Speaker 17: enabler of the war. I saw your interview with the
Speaker 17: Ukraine ambassador Ambassador to Australia, Vassal Mushuin Schenko, a great man.
Speaker 17: You asked him about things like oil transhipment. Well, again,
Speaker 17: it's mainly through the Russian shadow fleet coming through countries
Speaker 17: like China. So China is watching, China is enabling Russia.
Speaker 17: But there are also difference. It's not just a straight
Speaker 17: out and out analogy between what's going on in Europe
Speaker 17: and what might happen in the Indo Pacific. I think
Speaker 17: we have in the Trump administration an administration his looks
Speaker 17: at internationally issues differently. They are treating the Middle East
Speaker 17: differently to Europe, and no doubt they'll treat the Indo
Speaker 17: Pacific differently to both the Middle East and Europe. That's
Speaker 17: why it's our job, Australia's job, along with Japan and
Speaker 17: South Korea in this region, along with our European partners
Speaker 17: and friends and countries like Israel, to make sure that
Speaker 17: the US knows that there aren't spears of influence are
Speaker 17: not good for any of us. We need to work together.
Speaker 2: Justin Bassie, really appreciate your time. And that's the show
Speaker 2: for today. Thank you for your company. I'll see you
Speaker 2: tomorrow at eight o'clock. And here's Paul Maray