Speaker 1: Good evening, and that was Peter Dutton delivering his Budget
Speaker 1: reply speech, his vision for the nation if he becomes
Speaker 1: Prime Minister. Some major announcements there and it sets the
Speaker 1: stage for one high stakes political battle. The Prime Minister
Speaker 1: is now set to visit the Governor General at Yarralumla
Speaker 1: tomorrow morning and we'll have full coverage of this speech
Speaker 1: and the political contest on the show tonight. Now, this
Speaker 1: is a battle between alban Easy promising tax cuts worth
Speaker 1: five dollars a week from next July and Peter Dutton
Speaker 1: pledging fourteen dollars a week off your petrol prices. This
Speaker 1: is the battlefield.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: There were four big policies unveiled by Peter Dutton in
Speaker 1: his Budget reply speech just now. Firstly he said he'd
Speaker 1: introduce legislation to lower energy prices, then laws that would
Speaker 1: lower immigration and build more homes for Australians. He'd have
Speaker 1: the Keeping Australians Safe Bill, that's national security and guaranteed
Speaker 1: funding for health, education and essential services. Now we're going
Speaker 1: to go through some of these big announcements that I'm
Speaker 1: going to have full coverage on the show tonight. Ross
Speaker 1: Greenwood and Tom Connell's standing by Bronwyn Bishop too. Now,
Speaker 1: on energy, Peter Dutton announced a national gas plan. This
Speaker 1: was a big announcement tonight. He said Australians are paying
Speaker 1: some of the highest power prices in the world. Now
Speaker 1: we already know about his nuclear policy, but here Dutton
Speaker 1: just spoke about gas.
Speaker 2: And he said it's key to keeping the lights on.
Speaker 1: Australia has an abundant supply of natural gas and he
Speaker 1: wants to ramp up domestic gas production. He spoke about
Speaker 1: fast tracking projects that are ready to go, harving approval
Speaker 1: times and defunding the activist led Environmental Defender's Office. He's
Speaker 1: also going to invest in critical gas infrastructure to increase
Speaker 1: the gas pipeline and storage capacity.
Speaker 2: Have a look.
Speaker 3: His plan will prioritize to mister gas supply, address shortfalls
Speaker 3: and reduce energy prices for Australians. This is all about
Speaker 3: ensuring Australian gas is for Australians. We will immediately introduce
Speaker 3: an East Coast gas reservation. This will require a proportion
Speaker 3: between fifty to one hundred pedadules with spot cargo exports
Speaker 3: to be delivered to the domestic market. This will secure
Speaker 3: an additional ten to twenty percent of these coast demand
Speaker 3: gas which would otherwise be exported for use in other
Speaker 3: markets by consumers in those countries. But our gas needs
Speaker 3: to be first and foremost for our people.
Speaker 1: And dark and claim that would be a saving of
Speaker 1: around two hundred and sixty three billion dollars now. Immigration,
Speaker 1: this was a big area for the opposition leader. He's
Speaker 1: tonight linked housing with immigration. He outlined the problem it's
Speaker 1: one you all know about that Albin Eazy has run
Speaker 1: a big Australia program with a million new migrants in
Speaker 1: his first two years in office, but then Labour failed
Speaker 1: to build a single new house under its ten billion
Speaker 1: dollar housing fund. Well tonight, Dutnan has said that he'd
Speaker 1: cut the permanent migration program.
Speaker 2: By twenty five percent.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 1: He didn't put a figure in his speech, but he
Speaker 1: has previously said that he'd bring down net overseas migration
Speaker 1: to one hundred and sixty thousand a year. This compares
Speaker 1: to Labour's figure which is currently at three hundred and
Speaker 1: thirty five thousand a year.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: On housing, Duttan said that first home buyers will be
Speaker 1: able to access up to fifty thousand dollars from their
Speaker 1: superannuation for home deposit. This is already a highly popular
Speaker 1: policy with young voters. Now he also spoke other areas
Speaker 1: help about incentivizing junior doctors to workers GPS. To address
Speaker 1: the shortage, he announced an extra four hundred million dollars
Speaker 1: for youth mental health services. Now on Tuesday night, we
Speaker 1: didn't hear Treasurer Jim Chalmers focus on defense or national
Speaker 1: security issues like anti semitism and his budget speech. Now
Speaker 1: this shows the different priorities from Labour to the Coalition
Speaker 1: because Dutton just now spoke very strongly about funding and
Speaker 1: strengthening national security. Now here when he speaks about crime,
Speaker 1: national security and anti Samitism. This was one of the
Speaker 1: strongest parts of his speech.
Speaker 3: During my travels across the country, Australians tell me they've
Speaker 3: never been more worried about crime and division in our community.
Speaker 3: It started with the Prime Minister's Voice referendum, which sought
Speaker 3: to divide our country by ancestry and race. He then
Speaker 3: left a vacuum of leadership following the crime wave in
Speaker 3: Elie Springs and the anti semitism on the steps of
Speaker 3: the Sydney Opera House. All too often the Prime Minister
Speaker 3: is too late and too equivocal. This government has released
Speaker 3: three hundred hardcore ominals from immigration to tens into the community,
Speaker 3: with more than a third having reoffended against Australian citizens.
Speaker 3: It granted tourist visas to three thousand people from a
Speaker 3: terrorist controlled warzone, conducted without security checks that should have
Speaker 3: been put in place. It's failed to deter people smugglers
Speaker 3: trying to reach our shores by illegal boats. It's turned
Speaker 3: a blind eye when our military personnel have been endangered,
Speaker 3: and it didn't stand up for our country when Chinese
Speaker 3: communist warships entered our waters without notice.
Speaker 1: Now, Dartan is right to focus on crime and this
Speaker 1: sense of insecurity because too many Australians are worried about
Speaker 1: life at the moment, whether it's youth crime in Queensland,
Speaker 1: home invasions in Melbourne, anti Semitism in Melbourne and Sydney,
Speaker 1: or the crime wave in our springs. This is a
Speaker 1: major issue for many voters now. Darton also spoke about
Speaker 1: what he called moral political leadership that he said he'd
Speaker 1: provide and he says this is necessary to restore law
Speaker 1: and order.
Speaker 2: We also heard him speak.
Speaker 1: About strength strengthening bail laws to stop domestic violence offenders
Speaker 1: having national knife crime laws stopping the votes and got
Speaker 1: a very popular reaction from his colleagues deporting criminals who
Speaker 1: aren't Australian citizens. And he also spoke about one of
Speaker 1: the outcomes from our Sky News Antisemitism summit.
Speaker 3: We will establish a dedicated antisemitism task force to turn
Speaker 3: the tide of this scourge of hatred.
Speaker 1: Of course, that's incredibly welcome news that. On defense, he
Speaker 1: said he will invest significant funding. He said it would
Speaker 1: be an election announcement to come over the coming weeks
Speaker 1: and he didn't make that there this evening now. Dutton
Speaker 1: also painted the picture of the future he'd deliver for
Speaker 1: Australia and he explained how difficult life has been for voters,
Speaker 1: particularly with the cost of living crisis. He said that
Speaker 1: rents are up eighteen percent under the Albenzy government, housing
Speaker 1: up fourteen percent, groceries up thirty percent, electricity up thirty
Speaker 1: two percent, insurance up thirty five percent, and he promised
Speaker 1: that he'd be able to bring this all down as
Speaker 1: he tackles inflation. He also committed to making some savings
Speaker 1: in the budget. He said he would scrap the twenty
Speaker 1: billion dollar, rewiring the Nation Fund, the ten billion dollar
Speaker 1: Housing Australia Future Fund that hasn't built a single home.
Speaker 1: He said he'd get rid of the sixteen billion dollars
Speaker 1: of production tax credits for green hydrogen and critical minerals.
Speaker 1: He'd also makes seven billion dollars in savings from actsing
Speaker 1: forty one thousand he says camera based public servants that
Speaker 1: have been hired under the Labor government.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Dutton argued that this election is critical for the future
Speaker 1: of Australia.
Speaker 3: But this election does matter more than others in recent history.
Speaker 3: It is a sliding doors moment for our nation. A
Speaker 3: return to Albaneza government in any form won't just be
Speaker 3: another three bleak years. More economic mistakes will take a
Speaker 3: lot longer to recover from. Setbacks will be set in stone,
Speaker 3: and our prosperity will be damaged for decades to come.
Speaker 3: But you have the power to change the path our
Speaker 3: country is on. You have the ability to reverse decline
Speaker 3: and you have the opportunity to get our country back
Speaker 3: on track.
Speaker 1: Now, as I said, the Prime Minister is set to
Speaker 1: visit the Governor.
Speaker 2: General in the morning and call the election.
Speaker 1: Now we know that one of the biggest battles in
Speaker 1: this campaign will be Dutton's fuel excise versus Albanese's coffee
Speaker 1: shot tax cut.
Speaker 2: Now, the fuel excise.
Speaker 1: Has been subject I can tell you now it has
Speaker 1: been subject to focus group research.
Speaker 2: The Liberals have.
Speaker 1: Tested this magnificantly extensively before announcing it, and it's very
Speaker 1: popular in the outer suburban areas, the seats that the
Speaker 1: Coalition needs to win. It's not as popular in the
Speaker 1: inner city metropolitan areas. Now, this is in my view
Speaker 1: high risk for the Coalition to oppose tax cuts in
Speaker 1: an election campaign, no question. This is a high risk
Speaker 1: strategy that are shocked many on both sides of politics today.
Speaker 1: But Peter Dutton is confident he'll be able to convince
Speaker 1: voters that his petrol price relief is worth more than
Speaker 1: the five dollars tax cut that comes into effect in
Speaker 1: fifteen months time. Now, Dutton's policy means paying around fourteen
Speaker 1: dollars less in petrol a week based on a fifty
Speaker 1: five liter tank. Now, he sharpened his key attack over
Speaker 1: this in Question Time today.
Speaker 3: The Prime Minister has caused a lot of pain to
Speaker 3: Australian families over the last three years. I'm going to
Speaker 3: join with me in cutting the price of petrol and
Speaker 3: diesel to save trainees, pensioners and families up to twenty
Speaker 3: eight dollars a week instead of me seventy cent a
Speaker 3: day tax cut which doesn't even come in for fifteen
Speaker 3: months now.
Speaker 1: Alban Easy would usually allow a week for his budget
Speaker 1: to be sold across the country, but the headlines have
Speaker 1: been mostly negative, focusing on the decade of deficits, a
Speaker 1: trillion dollars in debt and a tax cut the size
Speaker 1: of a cup of coffee. So this time tomorrow we
Speaker 1: will be in an election campaign and at this point
Speaker 1: either side can win. Darton is strength strengthening his position
Speaker 1: in suburban areas, while Labour's vote has cemented in the
Speaker 1: metropolitan areas. This election is genuinely up for grabs right now,
Speaker 1: despite what the polls say.
Speaker 2: The battle will.
Speaker 1: Be intense, the spin will be excruciating, and will be
Speaker 1: here every night.
Speaker 2: To call it out.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's get into the coverage and reaction for Bud
Speaker 1: Dutton's budget reply speech tonight and let's bring in now
Speaker 1: sky News political reporter Tom Connell and Sky News Business
Speaker 1: editor Ross Greenwood. I've still got Robin Bishop Basil Zamplers
Speaker 1: and Pauline Hansen or coming up ross.
Speaker 2: Great to see you. What were your main takeouts from
Speaker 2: Dutton's speech.
Speaker 5: There's no doubt the energy piece was the biggest one
Speaker 5: there because that's the one that can have the most
Speaker 5: significant impact on the prices that Australians pay. Energy prices
Speaker 5: have gone through the roof. When you've got government having
Speaker 5: to step in to basically underwrite the price that energy
Speaker 5: costs people, you know that there's something wrong with the system.
Speaker 5: And yet despite the fact that Australians know we have
Speaker 5: plenty of energy, and yet these whole transformation to renewables
Speaker 5: simply has come at a significant cost to Australians. And
Speaker 5: that cost is not just in the price that households
Speaker 5: are paying, but it's actually long term in the price
Speaker 5: that Australia pays in terms of business being driven over.
Speaker 5: And so by effectively saying that we are going to
Speaker 5: direct more gas from Queensland into the local market rather
Speaker 5: than being exported, there is a conversation that Peter Dutton,
Speaker 5: as a Prime Minister, would have to have with some
Speaker 5: of those customers of that gas. But the reality is
Speaker 5: that many of those customers have been dropping their demand
Speaker 5: for Australian gas in recent times. So this means there's
Speaker 5: potentially some sort of gas coming to the system that
Speaker 5: would power between two and a quarter and four and
Speaker 5: a half million households. That's how much gas he's calling
Speaker 5: to go into the local system to drive down the
Speaker 5: wholesale price of gas from around fourteen dollars pergocajuel down
Speaker 5: to ten.
Speaker 1: And he'd need to work with the States on this
Speaker 1: as well, presumably Tom Connell. These two speeches we've heard
Speaker 1: this week from Jim Chalmers and our Peter Dutton, very
Speaker 1: different speeches. What stood out for you from Dutton's speech tonight.
Speaker 6: I won't go over too much old ground. I do
Speaker 6: think number one with a bullet was gas. There's a
Speaker 6: lot to answer a whennex exactly. It starts as he's
Speaker 6: spoken to gas companies for example, and is there maybe
Speaker 6: a quid pro quo that if they're a bit worse
Speaker 6: off in the short term, him talking about really speeding
Speaker 6: up development if he can get agreement with the States,
Speaker 6: as you alluded to, might be the payoff places like
Speaker 6: Narra Brye for example, that could be ready pretty soon
Speaker 6: if things are actually getting to train I'll pick out
Speaker 6: a couple of things that might be a bit different Shari.
Speaker 6: One was public servants. Now, no surprise, forty one thousand
Speaker 6: public servants, he says, we'll go. He did say camera based. Now,
Speaker 6: the overall number that are employed here in Camera is
Speaker 6: eighty thousand, so if half of the camera based public
Speaker 6: servants go, that'd be pretty dramatic, you know, as a
Speaker 6: now Camberra and it had actually one in six of
Speaker 6: our overall workers in the city. Now, I'm not saying
Speaker 6: the coalition cares about seats here, but I wonder if
Speaker 6: they're not actually all.
Speaker 7: Camera based there around the country.
Speaker 6: And the other one I found really interesting was alluding
Speaker 6: to John Howard.
Speaker 7: Now this doesn't surprise me.
Speaker 2: I don't know.
Speaker 6: John Howard is very respected amongst plenty in the electorate.
Speaker 6: But I do find it interesting that, of course, the
Speaker 6: last time John Howard won an election was two thousand
Speaker 6: and four. So if you think of the age of voters,
Speaker 6: then you're talking about people at are forty plus. Now
Speaker 6: that's about half the voters in Australia have never voted
Speaker 6: in an election where John Howard actually won an election.
Speaker 6: So I think it's not a surprise that we used
Speaker 6: in the campaign. He's respected, but is he going to
Speaker 6: perhaps not so much alienate himself with voters. But is
Speaker 6: he so much a guiding star still in twenty twenty five,
Speaker 6: when many voters would have seen at the very end
Speaker 6: of his career. So just a couple of interesting elements
Speaker 6: of the speech. We do have more detail to come
Speaker 6: on this. On migration, for example, what's the permanent migration
Speaker 6: figure going to be? For example? And also defense spending
Speaker 6: that's going to be a big one. An interesting part
Speaker 6: of that as well. Defense share it's not people might
Speaker 6: not think it's a retail issue.
Speaker 8: This is becoming really big.
Speaker 6: I understand in various focus groups they're saying defense is
Speaker 6: important to them, they want money spent on it. They're
Speaker 6: now concerned about their own security, a sort of almost
Speaker 6: bread and butter issue.
Speaker 1: And the other thing that we still are yet to
Speaker 1: see detail on is you know, the projections that they're
Speaker 1: total spending, the total deficits and debt that they're forecasting
Speaker 1: as well. Ross, I want to ask you about what
Speaker 1: is shaping up to be the biggest debate at the moment,
Speaker 1: the tax cuts from alban Easy and what Peter Dutton
Speaker 1: has announced just this evening the petrol price relief, which
Speaker 1: if it's an average car, will be around fourteen dollars
Speaker 1: a week. Now, what's your view on how I genuinely
Speaker 1: was shocked to find out that they would be opposing
Speaker 1: the tax cuts and not delivering a more generous package
Speaker 1: of their own. What do you think about how hard
Speaker 1: it will be for them to sell this message.
Speaker 5: It's interesting people do not like the amount of tax
Speaker 5: that governments take out of petrol, There's no doubt about that,
Speaker 5: and so as a result, that's sending a message that
Speaker 5: that affects everybody, even people who don't pay tax. Remember
Speaker 5: the pensioners drive cars and don't pay tax, and so
Speaker 5: from that point of view, it more broadly across the community.
Speaker 5: That's the reason why it's smart policy. The issue there
Speaker 5: is really it's temporary. So all of this is temporary.
Speaker 5: What you didn't hear from either the budget and you
Speaker 5: didn't hear it from Peter Dutton is the strategy to
Speaker 5: get Australia going again. Now, the energy policy goes partly there,
Speaker 5: but there is nothing there. And this is where again,
Speaker 5: where is the vision? Where is the drive for Australia
Speaker 5: what you got ab out of Peter Dutton. There was
Speaker 5: perhaps some more traditional Australia values going to the education system,
Speaker 5: going to defense of the country, which are all very
Speaker 5: basic and important things. But where's the drive to get
Speaker 5: Australia going again? And that's what I think was really
Speaker 5: missing from both sides of politics in the budget and
Speaker 5: budget in reply, it.
Speaker 1: Was good to hear Dutton though, speak about values tonight
Speaker 1: and more of a vision for the country, which I
Speaker 1: think was probably has been missing from the Alberneazy government
Speaker 1: in general. All Right, Tom Connell, Ross Greenwood, thank you
Speaker 1: very much for your thoughts on that speech tonight. Let's
Speaker 1: bringing now One Nation Leader Pauline Hannah. Now, Pauline, you've
Speaker 1: been calling for decades now to lower the immigration rate.
Speaker 1: This is something Peter Dutton has outlined this evening.
Speaker 2: He hasn't quite.
Speaker 1: Put a figure, though we have heard before that he's
Speaker 1: indicated he'd like to see between one hundred and forty
Speaker 1: and one hundred and sixty thousand migrants come to Australia.
Speaker 1: Do you think this will be a very popular area
Speaker 1: for voters for.
Speaker 9: Him most definitely, I think will if he looks at
Speaker 9: one hundred and forty one hundred and sixty thousand. Dot'll
Speaker 9: be fine. We're targeting one hundred and thirty thousand until
Speaker 9: we actually rain in. The oversupply of migrants we've had
Speaker 9: come in Australia's put it such a strain on our
Speaker 9: infrastructure and our housing. It's very important to lower it
Speaker 9: for a few years till we can manage it a
Speaker 9: lot better. So if he reduces that, all he said
Speaker 9: was reducing it by twenty five percent from what figure.
Speaker 9: So immigration is one of the biggest issues satisfacting the
Speaker 9: strands because of the housing, and we don't have housing
Speaker 9: for Austrands here. I was pleased to see that he
Speaker 9: picked up my policy about reducing the excise tax on
Speaker 9: fuel because that was my policy I released in February,
Speaker 9: so he's picked it up, which I'm pleased about. The
Speaker 9: house in the issue, Yes, he's right. The Labor government
Speaker 9: have built one house, the ten billion dollar fund. But
Speaker 9: if Peter Dutton's wanting to get rid of the twenty
Speaker 9: billion into rewiring Australia and other aspects of the hydrogen
Speaker 9: why not get rid of the Climate Department.
Speaker 2: We don't need it.
Speaker 9: Why didn't he say to get out of the Paris Agreement.
Speaker 9: This is destroying our country, our prosperity, and I think
Speaker 9: that we need to really look at that. And this
Speaker 9: is the difference with one nation. We will hold them
Speaker 9: to account if the Labor gets in back in government
Speaker 9: with the Greens, which I hope they don't because they
Speaker 9: have destroyed our economy in the future of this nation,
Speaker 9: but we will hold them to account, whereas we will
Speaker 9: also hold the Liberal Party to account. Now I think
Speaker 9: that Peter Dutton delivered a very good speech his future
Speaker 9: for Australia, but they have to be held to account
Speaker 9: that they will deliver it, and one nation will do that.
Speaker 1: Pauline, I just want to pick up there and when
Speaker 1: you said that it was actually your policy to have
Speaker 1: a petrol price of petrol fuel excise, petrol price relief,
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that was your policy. How do you
Speaker 1: think voters will receive that compared with the tax cut,
Speaker 1: Because we know that Labour's going to go out there
Speaker 1: and say that the Coalition has voted against a tax cut,
Speaker 1: they voted against cost of living relief.
Speaker 2: That'll be the line that the Prime Minister says every
Speaker 2: single day of the election campaign.
Speaker 1: So you know do you think voters are going to
Speaker 1: understand that the that the fuel excise would be worth
Speaker 1: more in their pocket depending on where they live and
Speaker 1: if they have a tient than the tax cut.
Speaker 2: Yep.
Speaker 9: Labor is going to be very good at their campaigning
Speaker 9: and their advertising to get across the strans that and
Speaker 9: they did this with the Medicare scare campaign last time around.
Speaker 9: So what they're already putting out the advertising is the
Speaker 9: Libs want to cut your education, cut your health, but
Speaker 9: they don't want to cut your tax relief. So this
Speaker 9: is the scare campaign that's already going out there. So
Speaker 9: I think that don't They passed the budget measures last night,
Speaker 9: but they cut but they didn't agree to the tax cuts.
Speaker 9: The stupid part about it. They should have actually be
Speaker 9: seeing that they've given the Labor government ammunition to use
Speaker 9: against them in their advertising coming up to the selection.
Speaker 2: That's all in the minds of people.
Speaker 9: We want tax relief, we want to have relief from
Speaker 9: the cost of living, and it's going to be hard
Speaker 9: for them to get the message across. Labor do far
Speaker 9: better in marketing, So that's why I.
Speaker 2: Supported the tax cuts.
Speaker 9: Yes, we do need tax cuts, but one nation is
Speaker 9: put out there to income split which will save a
Speaker 9: household you know, far better money if they looked at
Speaker 9: that and cut back to your government spending.
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, Pauline Hanson really appreciate you joining us
Speaker 1: on There's a big news night tonight.
Speaker 2: Thank you for your time.
Speaker 1: Think she's right, Laby is better at retail politics, at
Speaker 1: least at the moment than the current front bench.
Speaker 2: But we'll see.
Speaker 1: Peter Dutton has the fight in him. He knows the
Speaker 1: election is up for grabs. Now we are going to
Speaker 1: get more budget coverage and more analysis on Peter Dutton's
Speaker 1: reply speech throughout the show, but before we get to that,
Speaker 1: I want to bring you some major news tonight. Ben
Speaker 1: Robert Smith has made an urgent request for a retrial
Speaker 1: of his war crimes defamation case. He claims he was
Speaker 1: the subject of a miscourage of justice on the basis
Speaker 1: that the Nine network unlawfully obtained his confidential and privileged
Speaker 1: legal strategy. Now, the war veteran has also tonight spoken
Speaker 1: for the first time about the shock audio recordings that
Speaker 1: we broadcast for the first time here on Monday, where
Speaker 1: journalist Nick mackenzie claims to have reached his ethics by
Speaker 1: obtaining part of Robert Smith's legal strategy. Now, late this afternoon,
Speaker 1: Robert Smith filed an application to the Full Federal Court
Speaker 1: to amend the grounds of his appeal and seek for
Speaker 1: his entire defamation finding to be thrown out.
Speaker 2: He is asking for there to be a new trial. Now.
Speaker 1: His legal team claims there's been a miscarriage of justice
Speaker 1: based on the audio recordings where we can hear that
Speaker 1: Mackenzie claims that Robert Smith's ex wife, Emma and her
Speaker 1: friend Dannielle Scott briefed him on Robert Smith's legal strategy,
Speaker 1: and he also describes Nick Mackenzie describes.
Speaker 2: This as being helpful to their case.
Speaker 1: Now, the legal application that's been submitted to the Full
Speaker 1: Federal Court just late this afternoon, here's what it says.
Speaker 1: In the circumstances the nature of the information improperly obtained
Speaker 1: and its concealment until after the conclusion of the trial
Speaker 1: and appeal, it is in the interests of justice, both
Speaker 1: as between the parties and more broadly in relation to
Speaker 1: the administration of justice, that the matter be retried. Now
Speaker 1: in the statement, well in his own statement, so Ben
Speaker 1: Robert Smith has spoken for the first time about this
Speaker 1: audio recording, and he said that his lawyers were seeking
Speaker 1: leave to rely upon additional evidence, including an audio recording
Speaker 1: in which a journalist admits to being briefed with my
Speaker 1: confidential legal strategy, as well as separate evidence that my
Speaker 1: emails were improperly accessed over one hundred times in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty and twenty twenty one. Those are Ben Robert Smith's words.
Speaker 1: He also said, have listened to their strong words. He said,
Speaker 1: I have continued to fight for justice throughout this process,
Speaker 1: and today that fight continues.
Speaker 2: He says.
Speaker 1: As a soldier, I spent the majority of my adult
Speaker 1: life serving this country and putting my life on the
Speaker 1: line defending our rights as Australians. He says, all I
Speaker 1: ever asked, all I ever asked for was a fair
Speaker 1: process where the truth and justa can prevail. Now this
Speaker 1: is going to be explosive. It is now up to
Speaker 1: the full Federal Court to decide whether or not they
Speaker 1: will grant this request. That will we will potentially hear
Speaker 1: that in the next week or two weeks or three weeks.
Speaker 2: That's going to be the process.
Speaker 1: Now the Federal Court will determine whether it will allow
Speaker 1: the amendments to the appeal and for Robert Smith to
Speaker 1: rely on the fresh evidence of the audio recording.
Speaker 2: Now, this is a story I'm going.
Speaker 1: To keep following and pursuing, and I'm going to speak
Speaker 1: to another war veteran, Heston Russell, about this later in
Speaker 1: the show tonight, and he is scathing of how the
Speaker 1: media prosecutes the case against veterans rather than leaving it
Speaker 1: to the authorities.
Speaker 2: That's all coming up on the show tonight.
Speaker 1: All right, this is an exciting evening the night before
Speaker 1: the election is called. And after the break, I'm going
Speaker 1: to get more analysis from Brunwin Bishop and Basil zemplus
Speaker 1: plus uts launch is an in investigation after an academic
Speaker 1: says he wants to make Jews uncomfortable on campus. That's
Speaker 1: all coming up. Welcome back, And by the way, if
Speaker 1: you want to get some more information on Ben Roberts
Speaker 1: Smith's request for a retrial and why he's claiming there's
Speaker 1: been a miscarriage of justice, my full story is on
Speaker 1: the Sky News websites ahead to skynews dot com dot
Speaker 1: au nine's response is in that story as well.
Speaker 2: But let's get some more now.
Speaker 1: Reaction to Dutton's budget reply speech with former Speaker of
Speaker 1: the House Browan Bishop and new Liberal leader in Wa
Speaker 1: Basil Zemplus.
Speaker 2: First time I've.
Speaker 1: Introduced you with that title, Basil, and congratulations.
Speaker 2: Of course I'm being the Wa Liberal leader now Bronwin.
Speaker 8: Thank you.
Speaker 1: The election is going to be called tomorrow morning. Peter
Speaker 1: Dutton goes into this behind now he is considered the
Speaker 1: underdog in the fight. He's had a bit of a
Speaker 1: soft few weeks. Where do you think he's at right now?
Speaker 4: He's back on the game. This policy has such rich
Speaker 4: with regard to the cup of coffee tax cut of
Speaker 4: the government. Unless you're earning eighteen two hundred dollars, you
Speaker 4: get nothing because you're not paying any tax. And this applies.
Speaker 4: This benefit applies to whole households. That applies to stay
Speaker 4: at home mum or dad who's binding the kids. It
Speaker 4: applies to someone who's a carer who hasn't got another income.
Speaker 4: It applies to a whole range of people. That underpins
Speaker 4: the cost of transmitting fruit from the orchard to the
Speaker 4: supermarket shelf because it all has to be carried. Every aspect,
Speaker 4: the cost of fuel, the cost of energy is a
Speaker 4: fundamental impitting.
Speaker 1: This is a better policy than it.
Speaker 4: Far better. Yeah, fifteen months to wait for a cup
Speaker 4: of coffee. I don't think so. And I think the
Speaker 4: reality is that the idea was for mister Chalmers, the
Speaker 4: snake charmer, to go around skiting. This was my idea,
Speaker 4: and I'm the better person for the prime ministership than
Speaker 4: this silly or alban easy guy. Look at me, I
Speaker 4: did it all and I'll save your seats. Well, it's
Speaker 4: backbart on him rather badly, and he didn't expect that
Speaker 4: Dutin would come back a and say it's not worth
Speaker 4: wasting seventeen billion dollars on when that money can be
Speaker 4: spent to give real relief the whole households of people,
Speaker 4: the people living in the western suburbs who have to
Speaker 4: travel so far and all their tolls to pay, people
Speaker 4: in the country who have to go fifty k's to
Speaker 4: work and back, and that that's a close journey. All
Speaker 4: those people will benefit from the cut in the excise,
Speaker 4: which every one of us are conscious about. Time I
Speaker 4: go past the petrol station, I'm making the comparison where
Speaker 4: am I going to buy my petrol and the other thing?
Speaker 4: And Basil, it's lovely to see you we're finally to
Speaker 4: get what you've got, a gas reservation policy for the
Speaker 4: East Coast. We've been so slow to catch up the
Speaker 4: boy do we need it.
Speaker 2: A lot of work of course to get that over
Speaker 2: the line. Basil.
Speaker 1: The Liberal Party has traditionally been the party of lower taxes.
Speaker 1: We're going to see the coalition oppose these tax cuts
Speaker 1: as slim as they are for the first time.
Speaker 2: They are worth seventeen billion dollars.
Speaker 1: Do you think this position that they're taking is going
Speaker 1: to be a gift to labor in this campaign.
Speaker 10: I'm not sure that it is.
Speaker 8: No.
Speaker 10: I think this is about getting the balance right and
Speaker 10: I think that fuel excise is going to be super important.
Speaker 10: Mums and dads struggling with cost of living. Are fourteen
Speaker 10: dollars a week saving off the back of that six
Speaker 10: billion dollar commitment over twelve months is really significant. That's
Speaker 10: fourteen dollars every week on people's fuel bills. People will
Speaker 10: add that up, Mums and dads will be adding that
Speaker 10: up around Australia now and saying that is a significant saving.
Speaker 10: And when you add on top of that the commitment
Speaker 10: to help mental health, the commitment to energy and making
Speaker 10: gas more freely available, which will ultimately bring energy prices down.
Speaker 10: And the other one I really like the fifty million
Speaker 10: dollars for food charities. This goes to the people that
Speaker 10: need help every day Australians and I think that will
Speaker 10: rejoice in this budget from Peter Dutton.
Speaker 1: I actually think it was smart for Dutton to compare
Speaker 1: himself to John Howard. It shows the model of leader
Speaker 1: he wants to be so. And the other point on
Speaker 1: the on the fuel x ice, which by the way
Speaker 1: should just be called a petrol tax cut or a
Speaker 1: petrol price relief because otherwise a lot of people won't
Speaker 1: understand it. But I think the other point is is
Speaker 1: that if you're a two car household, of course that's
Speaker 1: worth twenty eight dollars a week, depending on how much
Speaker 1: you're driving and where you're going from and too, and
Speaker 1: of course it's more than that if your car is
Speaker 1: bigger than the standard fifty five.
Speaker 2: Leader.
Speaker 1: Now you know, we are focusing on the budget apply
Speaker 1: speech tonight, but I couldn't not cover this story because
Speaker 1: it was just so outrageous. The University of Technology Sydney
Speaker 1: is now investigating shocking allegations of comments that were made
Speaker 1: at a rally on campus.
Speaker 2: Now, an anti Zionist Jewish.
Speaker 1: Academic Peter Slezak, who does not work at UTS, can
Speaker 1: be heard in video saying that Jews should feel uncomfortable
Speaker 1: and it's our duty to make them uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: Have a listen.
Speaker 8: I believe a.
Speaker 4: Brother what she says.
Speaker 11: Jews should feel uncomfortable, and it's our to make them uncomfortable,
Speaker 11: and that includes.
Speaker 8: The follower of course.
Speaker 1: Now browin, you know, I think this is really distressing
Speaker 1: to hear an adult, and I know Peter Slezak, I've
Speaker 1: had run ins with him my entire career as a journalist,
Speaker 1: but I think it's really distressing for him to say
Speaker 1: that Jews who support Israel, which I assume is what
Speaker 1: he's saying, should feel uncomfortable on campuses.
Speaker 4: Well, likewise, why are we still having those demonstrations on campuses.
Speaker 4: They should have been stopped. And it's all the flow
Speaker 4: on from alban Easy attitude to that original demonstration anti
Speaker 4: Jewish demonstration at the Opera House right after the dreadful
Speaker 4: events of October seven. It just can't be fixed up
Speaker 4: by saying we can't listen to this one or we
Speaker 4: can't listen to that one. It is fundamental. They have
Speaker 4: to stop on the campuses and that means Vice chancellors
Speaker 4: have to take action. And are we watching very very
Speaker 4: keenly to see what this investigation brings about and what
Speaker 4: are the consequences of that investigation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think this is a really worrying issue.
Speaker 4: And the last dad, thank goodness, there's Peter Dutton saying
Speaker 4: there will be a hospels Well, we will actually do
Speaker 4: something about it as the Prime minister.
Speaker 2: Exactly.
Speaker 1: I was so pleased that he mentioned it, yes in
Speaker 1: his speech tonight. And again it shows the difference between
Speaker 1: the Albanese's government's approach to what the Director General of
Speaker 1: ASIO has said is the greatest current threat to life
Speaker 1: issue facing our nation, and yet we didn't hear anything
Speaker 1: about it from the Albanizi.
Speaker 2: Government this week.
Speaker 1: Now, I just have to give Peter Slazac a right reply.
Speaker 1: He says that criticizing Israel is not hate speech and
Speaker 1: not anti Semitism, and it's not criticizing Jews for their identity.
Speaker 1: It's not for their Jewishness, it's the fact that they're.
Speaker 2: Supporting crimes in their names.
Speaker 1: Obviously disagree with those statements personally as a strong Zionist myself,
Speaker 1: I am not supporting crimes because Israel is not committing
Speaker 1: any crimes. All right, from a bishop and Basil Zemplers,
Speaker 1: thank you very much for your time tonight, and so
Speaker 1: we didn't get to you on Basil, but we've got
Speaker 1: a lot still to come on the show tonight after
Speaker 1: the Ray Keston Russell to our bombshell revelations on nine
Speaker 1: Star journalist Nick McKenzie that Ben Robert Smith is now
Speaker 1: calling for a retrial, claiming there's been a miscarriage of justice,
Speaker 1: and Fox News war reporter Benjamin Hall, who was gravely
Speaker 1: injured by a Russian missile, will join me with his
Speaker 1: inspiring story.
Speaker 2: That's all coming up. Welcome back.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 1: On Monday night's show, we reported bombshell revelations that nine
Speaker 1: Star reporter Nick McKenzie was caught on tape claiming he'd
Speaker 1: engaged in unethical behavior during the famous war crimes case
Speaker 1: against Ben Robert Smith. Well I spoke with former Special
Speaker 1: Forces major Heston Russell a little earlier. Western Russell, thank
Speaker 1: you very much for your time. Look, just this afternoon,
Speaker 1: Ben Roberts Smith has filed an application in the full
Speaker 1: Federal Court for his entire defamation case to be heard again,
Speaker 1: for there to be a retrial. He's claiming there's been
Speaker 1: a miscarried of justice. From your position as a veteran,
Speaker 1: do you think he was treated unfairly.
Speaker 12: Well GEESHAA yeah, this is pretty extraordinary stuff. I mean,
Speaker 12: for starters, were dealing in a civil defamation trial, so
Speaker 12: we've not even dealing with the criminal elements of this.
Speaker 12: So if there's been new evidence brought to light by this,
Speaker 12: pretty interesting and explosive tape in my opinion, including those mentioned.
Speaker 8: You know, Nick mackenzie.
Speaker 12: Himself stood at the end of the court at the
Speaker 12: end of the trial, outside the court saying this is
Speaker 12: about truth and this is about justice.
Speaker 8: Well, if there's been any truth or.
Speaker 12: Justice that's been missed or circumvented, absolutely this should be
Speaker 12: reopened and both shides should want that to be reopened
Speaker 12: in the pursuit of truth and justice.
Speaker 1: In the recording, Nick mackenzie claims to have breached his
Speaker 1: own ethics. He said it's put him, in other words,
Speaker 1: but a difficult position, and says again in other words
Speaker 1: that his lawyers would be most displeased with him. But
Speaker 1: then in the statement from nine publicly they say there's
Speaker 1: been no breach of ethics at all.
Speaker 2: How do you think they maintain this position?
Speaker 8: Or who's telling the truth?
Speaker 12: Where does the line of ethical journalism inn and where
Speaker 12: does the law begin? Perhaps this is what also needs
Speaker 12: to be analyzed by this case being reopened. Is Nick
Speaker 12: mackenzie simply perhaps lying or misleading these people in order
Speaker 12: to gain their favor to provide testimony? Is that actually
Speaker 12: ethical conduct and investigative journalism? And at what point does
Speaker 12: Channel nine able to put out a statement so quickly
Speaker 12: without having looked into this themselves? I mean, how quick
Speaker 12: did they release that statement after you broke the story?
Speaker 1: Well, I put the questions to them on the Monday
Speaker 1: morning and came back to us in the afternoon with
Speaker 1: the statement.
Speaker 8: Gotcha understood?
Speaker 2: They might have been aware of it.
Speaker 8: So who's telling the truth?
Speaker 12: Says Nick saying that he did breach his ethics? Or
Speaker 12: is Channel nine or is it somewhere in between? Or
Speaker 12: is the law superseding this line of ethical journalism? And
Speaker 12: does that line need to be reevaluated.
Speaker 1: The broader question here is media scrutiny of veterans' actions
Speaker 1: when in combat zones. Now, this has been a very
Speaker 1: controvercial area.
Speaker 2: The journalists would say that they it's in the public interest.
Speaker 1: They have a duty to make sure Australian soldiers operate.
Speaker 2: Above and beyond reproach.
Speaker 1: But you're saying that this shouldn't be up to the
Speaker 1: media to prosecute.
Speaker 2: What is it that you're calling for here?
Speaker 12: Yeah, this is my biggest issue. These sanctimonious lawyers are
Speaker 12: these sanctimonious journalists who are happy to stand there and
Speaker 12: say this is about truth, this is about justice, having
Speaker 12: never stepped onto a battlefield themselves. We've just finished a
Speaker 12: raw commission to defense and veterans suicide because they're losing
Speaker 12: more veterans to suicide than we did in combat, and
Speaker 12: we still yet to fully appreciate the unique circumstances of combat.
Speaker 12: And having been there on deployment on one of those
Speaker 12: same deployment as Ben's, with the Special Operations Task Group
Speaker 12: conducting the operations we did, there's so much information that
Speaker 12: is not captured by a civil defamation court. Ben had
Speaker 12: to bring these proceedings himself to clear his name. He's
Speaker 12: never been charged or convicted as a war criminal, yet
Speaker 12: the media is allowed to call him that because they've
Speaker 12: met the evidence thresholds that are so much lower for
Speaker 12: civil defamation.
Speaker 8: When I spoke with you last year, just after finishing
Speaker 8: my own defamation.
Speaker 12: Court case against the ABC, I started a campaign for
Speaker 12: this Veterans Protection Act. Since then, over eighty thousand Australians
Speaker 12: have signed this Veterans Protection Act. And when I went
Speaker 12: down to Parliament earlier this year, this.
Speaker 1: Petition that says that if there are allegations that should
Speaker 1: be dealt with through the courts not the media, is
Speaker 1: that in essence what it's say.
Speaker 12: It basically says that any accusations or allegations coming from
Speaker 12: any combat operations of wartime should be required to be
Speaker 12: tried and tested at the evidence of truth beyond reasonable
Speaker 12: doubt in a criminal court by juries of our juries
Speaker 12: of our peers, and that individuals' names should not be
Speaker 12: able to be published as a part of that.
Speaker 8: When we deployed.
Speaker 12: Afghanistan, when Ben ROMs Smith and my self deployed on
Speaker 12: Special Forces operations were granted protected identalist status that isn't
Speaker 12: continued after service. There's this giant gap at the moment
Speaker 12: where politicians are behoven to these investgative journalists and more
Speaker 12: than happy to paint people as war criminals, only being
Speaker 12: able to say that at the standards of evidence required
Speaker 12: in civil prosecution, not till the standards required to actually
Speaker 12: provide convictions. And again I'll go back to Nick mackenzie
Speaker 12: standing outside the court saying, this is about.
Speaker 8: Truth, this is about justice.
Speaker 12: Ben Robert Smith has never been charged alone convicted as
Speaker 12: a war criminal. If this guy is serious about truth
Speaker 12: and justice, he would work with police in order to
Speaker 12: meet the thresholds of evidence for a conviction. But instead
Speaker 12: we're at point where they can publish stories and print
Speaker 12: books and get away with calling this guy something that
Speaker 12: he has never had to even be charged over.
Speaker 2: Just very quickly because we're almost out of time.
Speaker 1: But going through a process like this in the media,
Speaker 1: and you went to court against the ABC, you won,
Speaker 1: and there were quite atrocious findings against the ABC, which
Speaker 1: we've covered at length on this program in other media
Speaker 1: outlets as well.
Speaker 2: But you know, you were extremely emotional.
Speaker 1: It was hard for you to fight that bad or
Speaker 1: it took years for you to clear your name.
Speaker 8: I mean, I don't want to turn this on to me.
Speaker 12: But this is the whole part where we go away
Speaker 12: onto this operations. We're trained prepared, ready to go in
Speaker 12: and do so willingly. The fight that I had to
Speaker 12: personally go through back here, and I've also known the
Speaker 12: fight that Bennett's family have to go through back here
Speaker 12: is harder than any combat I ever faced, particularly at
Speaker 12: the time.
Speaker 8: Where where is the Department of Defense?
Speaker 12: You know, where are those institutions and organizations that are
Speaker 12: set up to ment to support our veterans after service.
Speaker 12: Where are the people that we served and fought under
Speaker 12: on those operations at a time when people are too
Speaker 12: afraid to take on elements of the media unless you
Speaker 12: can afford to do so yourself. And I know, and
Speaker 12: you would know that so many everyday Australians out there
Speaker 12: and those watching this program think exactly this. And it's
Speaker 12: time for whoever gets into this next government to take
Speaker 12: notice because people are getting fed up.
Speaker 2: All right, Heston Russell, thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Sherry.
Speaker 1: Okay, quick break now, and then we'll be back with
Speaker 1: an inspiring Fox News reporter that's in a moment.
Speaker 2: Welcome back.
Speaker 1: Well, let's bring in now one of the journalists I
Speaker 1: admit I am most in this entire world. Fox News
Speaker 1: World correspondent Benjamin Hall Ben so great to see you
Speaker 1: again on the show, and congratulations.
Speaker 2: On your new book.
Speaker 1: You're second talking about your survival of the Russian missile attack.
Speaker 2: While you're in Ukraine. Tell us how this book is
Speaker 2: different from your first.
Speaker 7: Yeah, sure, I'd great to see you again.
Speaker 11: Look, the first book really laid at what happened in
Speaker 11: Ukraine three years ago. It talked about the evacuation, talked
Speaker 11: about the attack itself. You know, it's focused on to
Speaker 11: the deaths of my four colleagues and how I managed
Speaker 11: to get through the initial recovery. But you know what
Speaker 11: was fascinating is the hardest part actually began when I
Speaker 11: got home. I thought that the seven months in hospital
Speaker 11: would be the most difficult moment, that that would be
Speaker 11: when I had to learn to walk again recover.
Speaker 7: But it's when you take.
Speaker 11: Injuries like this back home, you bring them back to
Speaker 11: your family, that you realize how much life has changed.
Speaker 7: And what I write in this book is.
Speaker 11: How even when times seem almost impossible, that me, my family,
Speaker 11: colleagues around me, we found a way to get through it.
Speaker 7: I write really about resilience.
Speaker 11: I write about other people who have gone through difficult moments,
Speaker 11: and I think that the key is that you can
Speaker 11: get stronger through struggle and you must never let any
Speaker 11: adversity hold you back.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So your book's called Resolute, and as you say, it's
Speaker 1: about resilience, And honestly, your resilience is utterly remarkable. Your
Speaker 1: positive attitude is just incredible when you're dealing with Can
Speaker 1: you tell our viewers you know you lost half a leg?
Speaker 2: Will you tell us of.
Speaker 11: I mean, yes, you know I lost my right leg
Speaker 11: and left foot. I see one eye, I use one hand,
Speaker 11: and it's very badly burnt. But you know, there's something
Speaker 11: remarkable about resilience. And I've covered conflict for fifteen years
Speaker 11: and I've seen people sadly injured the way I was injured,
Speaker 11: And I always ask myself, what would it be like
Speaker 11: if it happened to me? How would I react? And
Speaker 11: then you know, very sadly, it did happen to me.
Speaker 11: But when your back is up against a war, when
Speaker 11: you've got no other choice, there is such resilience inside
Speaker 11: all of us that many people don't even know about.
Speaker 11: And again that's the purpose of this book is telling
Speaker 11: people that if you trust that resilience is inside you,
Speaker 11: you can get through anything. And look for me, times
Speaker 11: are really difficult. But look, I think the same is
Speaker 11: true whether you're going through financial problems or family problems,
Speaker 11: or you have anxiety. You break down problems, you know
Speaker 11: that on the other side of them there will be
Speaker 11: something that is good. And that is how you can
Speaker 11: defeat the odds.
Speaker 1: Ben, I've often thought about you when we're here. Donald
Speaker 1: Trump and JD. Vance describe Vladimir Putin in quite glowing terms.
Speaker 1: How does this make you feel? Giving you a lucky
Speaker 1: to leave with your life?
Speaker 11: Yeah, and you know, I'm looking and watching very closely,
Speaker 11: and I speak to many people in Ukraine all the time,
Speaker 11: and look, there is a shared belief that they all
Speaker 11: want peace.
Speaker 7: They want to find some way to peace.
Speaker 11: They just hope that the negotiations moving forward will be
Speaker 11: fair and won't be sort of you know, give a
Speaker 11: rusher a better side. So look, I just have to
Speaker 11: hope that we're at the beginning of these negotiations as
Speaker 11: we move forward, that both sides will have to make
Speaker 11: some concessions, but that we reach a place that settles
Speaker 11: this war.
Speaker 7: But certainly.
Speaker 11: President Trump is someone who has a different kind of
Speaker 11: diplomacy to any other kind of president that we've seen
Speaker 11: and you've just got to hope that by the end
Speaker 11: it is something that gives Ukraine sovereignty over much of
Speaker 11: its land.
Speaker 1: We've got about thirty forty seconds left. But since we
Speaker 1: spoke last, you've welcomed a new baby, another girl to
Speaker 1: the world.
Speaker 7: Now I have, I've got four girls. Now. She's called Sage.
Speaker 11: And look, at the end of my book, I write
Speaker 11: a letter to her and I talk about how we
Speaker 11: live in a broken, crack divisive world, but that if
Speaker 11: you believe in a strong moral backbone, that's something all
Speaker 11: of us can share. And look, family gets you through everything.
Speaker 11: And I get very lucky to have family in Australia.
Speaker 11: And I know my in laws at the moment, Kim
Speaker 11: and Scarlet are watching, and so I want to say
Speaker 11: thank you to them for everything they did, because you
Speaker 11: don't get through difficult moments unless you come together. If
Speaker 11: you know someone who's having a difficult time, pick up
Speaker 11: the phone for them, reach out to them.
Speaker 7: It helps so much. And I was at the receiving
Speaker 7: end of that. And I suppose what you can try
Speaker 7: and do is pasts that on too others.
Speaker 1: Indeed, family is everything, and you have a beautiful family
Speaker 1: and incredible wife Ben. Great to have you on the show.
Speaker 1: I'll see you all at home Monday at eight. And
Speaker 1: right now, here's Paul Murray.