Speaker 1: This is the Media Show with Jack.
Speaker 2: Outing, Hello and welcome to the Media Show. Tonight we'll
Speaker 2: take a look at what the ABC gets in Lever's
Speaker 2: budget and inside fights in the US media. But first,
Speaker 2: this week was all about the budget and Lever's lofty
Speaker 2: economic promises were in the spotlight.
Speaker 1: So how did our media cover it?
Speaker 3: Alban Easy government is copying plenty of flak for its
Speaker 3: big spending budget, giving three hundred dollars energy rebates to everyone,
Speaker 3: with cost of living relief for every household.
Speaker 4: Jim Chalmers insists this budget isn't about winning votes, but
Speaker 4: we'll take that with a grain of salt.
Speaker 5: Treasurer spends big on budget cost of living relief.
Speaker 3: There's energy bill relief and income tax cuts across the board.
Speaker 6: Every Australian household will save hundreds of dollars on their
Speaker 6: power bills.
Speaker 2: And of course there were some slogans which went very
Speaker 2: much unchallenged.
Speaker 1: For the most part.
Speaker 2: Alberan Easy took to social media to claim we're giving
Speaker 2: every Australian a tax cut.
Speaker 1: So is that true?
Speaker 2: Well, Labor change legislation to ensure that anyone earning more
Speaker 2: than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars will pay more
Speaker 2: tax than they would have. It is a pretty important
Speaker 2: detail which meant in the media simply forgot. And aside
Speaker 2: from all of that, because of Australia's inflation crisis, your
Speaker 2: wages have been pushed into higher tax brackets, or, as
Speaker 2: Laura Jay's put it on the Sky News panel, inflation
Speaker 2: driven bracket creep plundered twenty five billion dollars from taxpayers
Speaker 2: this year.
Speaker 7: At the center of your pain is bracket creep. Wage
Speaker 7: increases feel like they are amounting to absolutely nothing, So
Speaker 7: look at this chart. In twenty twenty two, bracket creep
Speaker 7: was worth about half of the increase in personal income
Speaker 7: tax eighteen billion dollars taken from households.
Speaker 3: This year, income.
Speaker 7: Tax went up by sixty two billion dollars, and about
Speaker 7: twenty five billion dollars of that was due to bracket creep.
Speaker 7: This third column shows even with Labour's Stage three tax cuts,
Speaker 7: the ree jig Stage three tax cuts, they weren't about
Speaker 7: twenty five billion dollars right, but there are still six
Speaker 7: billion dollars worth of bracket creep next year alone. Expect
Speaker 7: the opposition to seize on that.
Speaker 2: We also had a stunt where three hundred dollars of
Speaker 2: your money presumably will be paid directly to energy companies
Speaker 2: to lower the power bill. Now, many in the media
Speaker 2: celebrating this cash splash have short memories. It all related
Speaker 2: to this broken promise.
Speaker 8: Ouseholds will benefit by two hundred and seventy five dollars
Speaker 8: on Apple reducing power prices by two hundred and seventy
Speaker 8: five dollars, prices by two hundred and seventy five dollars
Speaker 8: two hundred and seventy five dollars, two hundred and seventy
Speaker 8: five dollars a year, two hundred and seventy five dollars,
Speaker 8: two hundred and seventy five dollars a year.
Speaker 2: If Labor tries to make the claim that it has
Speaker 2: kept this promise because of the one off payment, do
Speaker 2: not fall for the spin. The election policy was clear.
Speaker 2: It was to lower power prices in perpetuity from twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five, not artificially lower them once. And this pretty
Speaker 2: much sums up Labour's entire budget. It is a stopgap
Speaker 2: measure with very little long term substance. Well, let's bring
Speaker 2: in our panel now, and we've got media writer at
Speaker 2: The Australian Sophie Elsworth and PR Council's Christy McSweeney. Well, Christy,
Speaker 2: why don't we start with you. What did you make
Speaker 2: of the media coverage that you saw and what kind
Speaker 2: of verdict would you place on the public's reaction to
Speaker 2: the budget.
Speaker 5: Look, I think the public swide by this false promise
Speaker 5: of we're going to get three hundred dollars. A lot
Speaker 5: of the media reported that it was almost like an
Speaker 5: economic stimulus and people were going to receive three hundred dollars.
Speaker 5: There's not a lot of people out there who know
Speaker 5: that that three hundred dollars is going to be paid
Speaker 5: to the energy company, not to you, and it's going
Speaker 5: to be paid quarterly over two financial years, so it's
Speaker 5: not going to come all once either. And you're right,
Speaker 5: jacket is a one off payment. So like all budgets,
Speaker 5: the devil is in the detail. But there's a lot
Speaker 5: of spin on this one. They're framing it as an
Speaker 5: economic management good and economic good management budget. But then
Speaker 5: another ten years of deficit after this probably so if
Speaker 5: they want to go to an election this year, they
Speaker 5: can and they can say we've delivered two surpluses and
Speaker 5: people feel really good about getting targeted. And I say
Speaker 5: targeted because not everybody's getting what they should get when
Speaker 5: people who are expecting those Stage three tax cuts as
Speaker 5: they were, as they voted for at the election.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's a pretty big point.
Speaker 2: Now, Sophie, cutting through the spin, how do you think
Speaker 2: the media fared. Were they good at pulling apart some
Speaker 2: of the half truths in the budget?
Speaker 4: Well, Jack, they're professionals that this, as you know, I mean,
Speaker 4: we have this every twelve months.
Speaker 3: You know, many of us have done budget after budget.
Speaker 4: But it's cutting through all the spin that is the
Speaker 4: key and breaking it down and what it means for you, I,
Speaker 4: the viewer, the listener, whoever. But I thought there was
Speaker 4: some great headlines during the week. There was one on
Speaker 4: the front of the head at the front of the
Speaker 4: Herald Sun that read jim flation, which I'm not so
Speaker 4: sure the Treasurer.
Speaker 3: Would have liked that one.
Speaker 4: But this three hundred dollars rebate for energy was really
Speaker 4: dominating because it's a very simple policy to explain, it's
Speaker 4: very easy for people to understand, and then the headlines
Speaker 4: dominate on that.
Speaker 3: But let's remind.
Speaker 4: Viewers, Jack that the Albanezi government did promise that energy
Speaker 4: prices would drop by two hundred and seventy five dollars
Speaker 4: and they have not done that.
Speaker 3: So this is a way to counter that. Say, you're giving.
Speaker 4: More of a rebate, but this rebate is only one off,
Speaker 4: so it will only cover these increasing power costs for
Speaker 4: one calendar year or one year, should I say, and
Speaker 4: then the problems.
Speaker 3: Are back to where they started.
Speaker 4: So this is a lot of spin in this budget,
Speaker 4: but we get that from both sides of politics.
Speaker 2: Well said, But moving on now. Even though it was
Speaker 2: a serious cost of living budget, some labor MPs thought
Speaker 2: it was all one big joke. Now, Christy, I want
Speaker 2: to bring you in here for me watching this video,
Speaker 2: and it did generate some headlines because it was a
Speaker 2: bit confronting. We're on one hand saying people are doing
Speaker 2: it tough. We've got this tough budget where we're having
Speaker 2: to provide relief to energy bills. People are struggling with rent.
Speaker 2: A lot of that's immigration driven, and the people who
Speaker 2: are running the country are doing these bizarre dances where
Speaker 2: they're kicking their feet up as if I don't know
Speaker 2: what to make of it, What are your thoughts?
Speaker 5: This is an absolute thing that people trapped inside a
Speaker 5: bubble think is funny. It's an absolute in joke, and
Speaker 5: I'm sure a lot of MPs and other people in
Speaker 5: the building thought it was clever, thought it was leading
Speaker 5: into the zeitgeist about TikTok videos. I'm sure people in
Speaker 5: the building could understand the relevance of the autumnal changes
Speaker 5: of the budget tree and so forth. But to people
Speaker 5: out there, they are thinking, why are we sending people
Speaker 5: to Canbra to dance in a courtyard on budget day
Speaker 5: when I can't pay my bills, when everything at the
Speaker 5: supermarket is costing me more, when I'm not better off
Speaker 5: than I was two years ago. Since you came to
Speaker 5: government and you're dancing around a tree.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good point, Sophie Elsworth. Your thoughts was it an
Speaker 2: own goal?
Speaker 3: Jack? I just don't think it's the time for it.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's nice to see politicians have a little
Speaker 4: bit of fun. They're generally pretty serious, but when they're
Speaker 4: putting out social media content that you know, looks like
Speaker 4: they're having a bit of a.
Speaker 3: Wow of a time.
Speaker 4: You know, Australian economy, households are suffering. There's no denying
Speaker 4: that people are feeling the strain and I think a mum.
Speaker 3: And dad household out in the Burbs.
Speaker 4: Who is struggling to pay their mortgage in their power
Speaker 4: bill would look at that and just go These people
Speaker 4: have no idea.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's asinine, it's stupid, the need to get back
Speaker 2: to work. But now to a great scoop by our
Speaker 2: panelist Sophie Elseworth at The Australian who sought it through
Speaker 2: the budget papers only to find that the audience at
Speaker 2: the ABC.
Speaker 1: Is expected to plummet.
Speaker 2: Sophie reported the budget papers say the ABC's combined weekly
Speaker 2: audience reach, which is a target of sixty seven percent
Speaker 2: in this financial year, is expected to fall to sixty
Speaker 2: three percent. It is expected to drop again in the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four five financial year to sixty two percent,
Speaker 2: a result blamed on soft and used web services. Now,
Speaker 2: while audiences are dropping, the national broadcaster is actually pocketing
Speaker 2: even more of your cash, with the one point one
Speaker 2: nine billion dollar budget getting a fifty eight point five
Speaker 2: million dollar top up next year. Wages at the ABC
Speaker 2: will also rise by nine percent as well. Now let's
Speaker 2: bring Sophie back into discuss. Now, Sophie, the thing that
Speaker 2: jumped out at me is they're blaming this concept of
Speaker 2: a soft news web market for the shrinking audiences.
Speaker 1: What does that mean in this context? So what are
Speaker 1: they trying to say.
Speaker 4: Well, they're trying to say that, you know, news services
Speaker 4: are seeing a decline in audience. Now, we know that
Speaker 4: it is challenging time for media outlets, whatever platform they
Speaker 4: are on. But the thing is, we give the ABC
Speaker 4: about one point two billion dollars annually in government funds,
Speaker 4: So it's expected that they keep the audience engage because
Speaker 4: they're getting an awful lot of bucket of cash dropped
Speaker 4: at their front doors every year.
Speaker 3: Now this is not happening.
Speaker 4: Their audience will decline to sixty three percent reach and
Speaker 4: then a further decline to sixty two percent reach. Now,
Speaker 4: I would argue, it's not about budgetary issues at the
Speaker 4: ABC that's seeing an audience decline. It's about their content Jack.
Speaker 4: We talk about it on this show week in Wakeout.
Speaker 4: Even Paul Barriot the Media Watch was calling out some
Speaker 4: of their coverage with the Bondi murders. They are not
Speaker 4: getting to issues, they are not covering news events properly,
Speaker 4: and then viewers and listeners and readers are tuning in elsewhere,
Speaker 4: So they have a.
Speaker 3: Problem with engaging their audience.
Speaker 4: And I would argue it's because of the content and
Speaker 4: the quality of the content in some instances that they
Speaker 4: are pushing out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I couldn't agree well, and Christy, obviously the ABC
Speaker 2: does some amazing work in the regions. Where I think
Speaker 2: they've gone wrong is dedicating so many so much headcount
Speaker 2: in to say the TikTok division, and they're obviously trying
Speaker 2: to do it because you get these easy, cheap views
Speaker 2: there and then they can report back in you know,
Speaker 2: the Senate estimates and everything that their audience share has
Speaker 2: gone up, but the views aren't equal. It's not the
Speaker 2: same as capturing a big audience in a regional area
Speaker 2: as getting this bizarre audience on TikTok with these cheap
Speaker 2: views for essentially just covering memes and jokes.
Speaker 5: That's exactly right. And you know, I grew up a
Speaker 5: regional Australian and I grew up watching the ABC, and
Speaker 5: I'm grateful and I'm thankful for the work they do
Speaker 5: in bringing representation of regional Australians to the rest of Australia.
Speaker 5: But there's not enough of a concentration on that regional
Speaker 5: Australians would be mortified to see what the ABC does
Speaker 5: in the city. If they tuned in to ABC Sydney
Speaker 5: in the mornings and heard the host promoting wanting Sydney
Speaker 5: siders to engage in a game of tag. People do
Speaker 5: not want to list into that content. The news direction
Speaker 5: is dropping dropping if concepts such as that are major
Speaker 5: promotions to engage in audience. It used to be the
Speaker 5: best investigative journalism in Australia. It still is in parts
Speaker 5: of the regions, but not when you're tuning on in
Speaker 5: the city stations.
Speaker 2: Well said, and now to the Walk LEAs, which is
Speaker 2: taking a very brave stance by standing up against the
Speaker 2: evil fossil fuel companies. The Australian reports that the Media
Speaker 2: Awards event has acted its partnership with Australian oil company
Speaker 2: and Pole, claiming they will only work with companies which
Speaker 2: have a quote tangible benefit to humanity. Sophia, I want
Speaker 2: to bring you in here because you've written this story.
Speaker 2: The thing that I was confused about. The insinuation appears
Speaker 2: to be that fossil fuels provide no tangible benefit to humanity.
Speaker 1: Is that what you thought as well?
Speaker 4: Well, that's basically what it's saying, Jack, And this uproar
Speaker 4: happened last year when the cartoonists, a group of cartoonists
Speaker 4: were quite disgusted that the Walkleys had one of its
Speaker 4: major sponsors as Ampole, and then further fallout occurred after
Speaker 4: an SMH article said that the founder, Sir William Walkley
Speaker 4: of Ampole, who also helped create The Walkleys, held racist
Speaker 4: views in a column written newspaper in the nineteen sixties.
Speaker 4: So they're basically now cutting off or biting the hand
Speaker 4: that feeds them and this is not going to end. Well,
Speaker 4: they've ended, they're ending their relationship with amp Pole. But
Speaker 4: I think this is virtue signaling at its finest, and
Speaker 4: Daily Telegraf cartoonist Warren Brown said to me in this story,
Speaker 4: how are these cartoonists who are so outraged going to
Speaker 4: get to.
Speaker 3: The Walkley Awards? Are they going to.
Speaker 4: Arrive in a tesla or on a solar powered pogo stick?
Speaker 3: This is a bit of virtue signaling and it's probably
Speaker 3: gone too far.
Speaker 5: Jack.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the irony is that the announcement would have been
Speaker 2: written on a computer which is powered by energy from
Speaker 2: fossil fuels. Bunch of hypocrites. We're going to take a
Speaker 2: quick break. When we're back. Albanesi gets into media trouble
Speaker 2: with one of his tenants.
Speaker 1: Welcome back.
Speaker 2: Anthony Albanzi also made headlines this week after The Daily
Speaker 2: Telegraph revealed he was evicting a tenant from an investment property.
Speaker 6: So my landlord is Anthony Albanesi, right, the Prime Minister,
Speaker 6: and look full disclosure. Albet's been a really good landlord.
Speaker 6: I like Albow I noted for him in the last election.
Speaker 6: I'm supportive of a lot of the things that he does.
Speaker 6: I'm very confused by this, and I guess I'm disconfused
Speaker 6: by the circumstances that again I wasn't given the opportunity
Speaker 6: to potentially look at other.
Speaker 3: Options increasing the rent.
Speaker 6: And I was particularly confused by the reason that the
Speaker 6: estate agent, which was that the landlord was considering selling
Speaker 6: the property.
Speaker 1: So what did Albanesi say in response?
Speaker 4: I wish him well, but.
Speaker 8: I am allowed to make changes which are a direct
Speaker 8: result of the changes that have happened.
Speaker 7: In my life from where I was ten years ago.
Speaker 2: Seems fair enough to me. And while Flanagan was claiming
Speaker 2: that Albert was his landlord, the truth may be more complicated.
Speaker 2: News dot COM's Sam Maiden reports that comedian Chrissy Flanagan,
Speaker 2: the ex partner of the man that Anthony Albanesi is
Speaker 2: trying to evict from his investment property, has sensationally revealed
Speaker 2: that she remained on the lease even after she moved
Speaker 2: out in order to keep the rent down. Now let's
Speaker 2: bring the panel back in Christy. First of all, just
Speaker 2: starting with the scenario, just in general, who do you
Speaker 2: think is in the right here? I've got a lot
Speaker 2: of sympathy for Anthony Albanesi. I think that this bloke
Speaker 2: has had very low rent for a very long time
Speaker 2: and it's his prerogative to maximize his rent sell the property.
Speaker 1: But he's getting a lot of flat. The story has
Speaker 1: taken wings.
Speaker 3: The story's got.
Speaker 5: A few twists and turns, hasn't it. And I love
Speaker 5: that the Daily Telegraph went out to do this story
Speaker 5: against the Prime Minister and the talent they found was
Speaker 5: so complimentary of the Prime Minister, was almost an ad
Speaker 5: for what a good bloke Anthony Albanize is, So they
Speaker 5: didn't quite get what they were after there.
Speaker 3: So the Telly have been.
Speaker 5: Really happy with the story taking another turn today about
Speaker 5: multiple leaseholders and who actually is the tenant here? But
Speaker 5: Anthony Albanize in his response, he's replicating the response of
Speaker 5: every person in Australia who owns investment properties and is
Speaker 5: looking at state governments put in legislation on the rights
Speaker 5: of renters and listening to politicians talking about rent moratoriums.
Speaker 3: And so forth. It is an asset class.
Speaker 5: It should be treated as such, like every other asset
Speaker 5: class in Australia, and the Prime Minister has just proved
Speaker 5: that point. He's allowed to do with his property what
Speaker 5: he wants, but he's been really good about keeping the
Speaker 5: rent down for this small business owner during and post COVID.
Speaker 5: I think we you know, I have some sympathy for
Speaker 5: the PM on this one as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Sophie.
Speaker 2: Obviously the tenant, Flanagan hasn't been that critical of Albanesi,
Speaker 2: and he's more talking broadly about the rights for renters
Speaker 2: in general. Seems to kind of be where he's fallen
Speaker 2: his position, But it has ended up hurting Albanesi in
Speaker 2: some demographics, I would argue, and I think that this
Speaker 2: renterers maybe a little bit entitled. He's had very low rents.
Speaker 2: If I was here, I'd be thanking Albanesi for all
Speaker 2: those years of support.
Speaker 3: Well, Jack, there's a few things here, I think to unpa.
Speaker 4: Yes, the Prime Minister is entitled to sell any asset
Speaker 4: classes that he has, and he's obviously looking at doing that.
Speaker 4: He's well within his rights. But I would argue the
Speaker 4: timing of this is not great for the Prime minister.
Speaker 4: When the government's all about, you know, helping out renters,
Speaker 4: they're struggling out there. The timing of this, it's turned
Speaker 4: into a media you know, you know, whole drama really.
Speaker 3: As a result of this that could have been avoided
Speaker 3: if this was done at a different time.
Speaker 4: It's right in the middle of federal budget week and
Speaker 4: it just doesn't look like the Prime Minister is practicing
Speaker 4: what he preaches. He's basically saying the tenant's got to go,
Speaker 4: I'm selling my property. He's well within his rights to
Speaker 4: do that. But I think people are going, you're sort
Speaker 4: of saying one thing but doing another.
Speaker 2: Perhaps, Yeah, it's a good point. He should have waited
Speaker 2: until after the budget. It's a cost of living budget,
Speaker 2: and I guess it comes back to you. You know
Speaker 2: that video we played of dancing MPs You've got to
Speaker 2: walk as well. You can't just say the right things,
Speaker 2: You actually have to practice what you preach. And I
Speaker 2: can see that there is area for him to be
Speaker 2: criticized there.
Speaker 1: Anyway.
Speaker 2: Let's move on now to the US, where Trump's hush
Speaker 2: money trial is in full swing. And to stop Trump
Speaker 2: from talking publicly about the trial in a way which
Speaker 2: could be perceived to be intimidating witnesses, the judge placed
Speaker 2: a gag order on him, but that didn't stop a
Speaker 2: few wild press conferences taking place as his supporters found
Speaker 2: a loophole.
Speaker 9: Some of Donald Trump's allies joined him in New York
Speaker 9: yesterday for his criminal hush money trial. Outside of court,
Speaker 9: they said, what Trump can't because of the gag order
Speaker 9: in place on the former president. You just saw both
Speaker 9: Senator j. D. Vance of Ohio and Senator Tommy Tarbarwell
Speaker 9: of Alabama said they're just there to support a friend,
Speaker 9: but both then criticized Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen. Vance
Speaker 9: also attacked the judge's daughter, unfounded claims made by the former.
Speaker 1: President, Christie.
Speaker 2: Let's bring you in here. I mean, it's been such
Speaker 2: a circus this entire trial. I did find it very
Speaker 2: funny that Trump always finds a way you could put
Speaker 2: a gag or order on him. The insinuation appears to
Speaker 2: be that he sent out his supporters to say what
Speaker 2: he would say if he legally could and didn't want
Speaker 2: to go to jail.
Speaker 3: America.
Speaker 5: Wow, And I will say that Republican politicians are basically
Speaker 5: lining up to prove loyalty to Trump.
Speaker 3: They would do anything.
Speaker 5: I'm surprised that there are not more of them there
Speaker 5: following this legal circus around the United States, to turn
Speaker 5: up and back Trump and make statements in his support
Speaker 5: to gain loyalty from him.
Speaker 3: There are people in.
Speaker 5: The Publican party who have spoken out against Trump in
Speaker 5: the past who are now changing their mind, who are
Speaker 5: absolutely making statements adverse to what they had said previously,
Speaker 5: or because they know Trump's reputation for people who are
Speaker 5: loyal to him.
Speaker 3: And will back his point of view.
Speaker 5: That's not uncommon in politicians the world over, but I
Speaker 5: think this is a really extreme case here in the
Speaker 5: United States, with Republicans falling over themselves to do anything
Speaker 5: they can to show loyalty to Donald Trump at this
Speaker 5: point of the electoral cycle.
Speaker 1: So for elseworth your thoughts.
Speaker 3: Oh, look, isn't he clever?
Speaker 4: Hat He's managed to get around this in what appears
Speaker 4: to sending out.
Speaker 3: His allies to speak for him.
Speaker 4: Watch out, because obviously, with this US election, Trump is
Speaker 4: going to do absolutely everything he absolutely can to make
Speaker 4: sure he can defeat Joe Biden.
Speaker 3: And this is just one step that he's saying. I
Speaker 3: won't be gagged. I will get around this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we'll see how the strategy of potentially infuriating the
Speaker 2: judge plays out. I can't imagine it will help him
Speaker 2: too much, but look, staying on US politics, Joe Biden's
Speaker 2: upcoming See an End debate with Donald Trump may have
Speaker 2: a few restrictions to help the sitting president. Fox News
Speaker 2: reports that Biden's camp wants no audience, a limitation on
Speaker 2: media organizations, and candidate Mike's to be muted when their
Speaker 2: time runs out. Now, Christie, let's bring you back in here.
Speaker 2: I don't mind the idea of candidate Mike's being muted
Speaker 2: the moment that the time goes out. But the reason
Speaker 2: they're doing it is because in twenty twenty, Joe Biden
Speaker 2: was getting talked over, Trump was fighting back, and it
Speaker 2: created this ferocious talk fest. What do you think, what
Speaker 2: do you think about these rules?
Speaker 5: It's not unusual for the party of essentially the front runner,
Speaker 5: even though in this case, I don't think he is
Speaker 5: to come to a debate preparation with rules, and that's
Speaker 5: the president's prerogative. But they're obviously trying to safeguard Joe
Speaker 5: Biden from making gaffes and from talking too much, which
Speaker 5: is unusual for a debate where they're trying to contain
Speaker 5: his ability to speak.
Speaker 1: Sophie Elseworth, what are your thoughts.
Speaker 3: This signals to me that Joe Biden is worried.
Speaker 4: He's worried of having a debate with Trump, and I
Speaker 4: think he's worried that Trump will win the debate, and
Speaker 4: that's why his officers come out and made these restrictions
Speaker 4: on the debates.
Speaker 6: Jack.
Speaker 2: So for you, Christy, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 2: me tonight. That's all the time we have for tonight.
Speaker 2: That's it for me. Up next is lefties losing it.